Never Let You Go
by Sayo124
Summary: Crossover FruitsBasketIY Inu n tachi are hot on the trail of Naraku. It won't be long till he's destroyed. But when Kagome goes back to restock on necessaties, she finds that things changed while she was away. What's a girl to do?
1. First Impression

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Kagome hurried as she grabbed her backpack and scampered to the Bone Eaters Well. Giving a wave over her shoulder, despite the fact that no one was in sight to receive it, she slid over the wooden lip and fell to the ground below her.

A smile graced her lips as she climbed the ladder and hopped awkwardly—trying to keep herself and her heavy backpack balanced—over the side.

"I'm home!" she called.

Her brother slid open the door, "Hey, sis! We didn't expect you back for another week."

Kagome practically bubbled with excitement. "Oh, Souta! It's wonderful!"

A puzzled expression clouded his features. "Wha—?"

"We almost got 'im!"

"Got who?" He put down the soccer ball he had been carrying to walk closer to her.

"Naraku! We're hot on his trail! He was somewhat injured somehow and Inuyasha picked up his scent! Isn't it wonderful? When he's gone, I can spend more time at home!"

The smile Souta had been sharing with his sister faltered a bit.

Kagome didn't notice as she ran out of the well-hut and into the house. Lost in the moment she forgot to take off her shoes.

"Mom! Mom! I'm home!"

A middle aged woman walked out of the kitchen. "I see you are. What's up, dear? I thought you weren't supposed to be back for about another week."

"It's wonderful!" she exclaimed, blabbing exactly what she had told Souta only a few minutes ago.

However, her mother only seemed to pick up tid-bits of what she said, and with a distracted look in her eyes said, "Well, I'm glad you're back, dear. I was going to tell you as soon as you came home. Just blurt it out, so I don't get nervous and forget to tell you."

"Tell me what?" her smile of excitement was gone, replaced by a curious frown and wrinkles of puzzlement between her bright eyes.

"Well—"

"Mom's got a new boy-friend!" Souta cried from behind her.

Nothing registered as Kagome stood, horrified, staring at the wall beside her mother's head.

A million thought raced through her head.

'_Boyfriend? That's . . . good, right?'_

Was it good? Her father had died not too long ago. How could she just forget about him? Kagome thought her mother had been madly in love with him to the end.

'_She still is.'_ She chastised herself, _'She wouldn't just forget about him. For all she knows, it may just be a small crush.'_

Sticking to that logical answer she perked up, chirping, "Wow, Mom. That's great!"

Her mother seemed surprised that she had so easily taken the news. "Yes, I thought so too."

She hesitated before asking, "You're sure you're fine with this?"

Souta snorted. "Mom! Really, Kagome never lies! She'd tell you if it bothered her."

Their mother smiled slightly and answered, "Yes, I know. I guess I'm just nervous . . ."

"Guess you would be," Souta answered.

The older woman whirled and hustled back into the kitchen when the timer's shrill alarm went off muttering, "I hope it isn't burnt."

"What?" Mom cared about things getting burnt, sure, but she didn't panic over it like that.

"Souta," Kagome said slowly, "what is going on?"

Souta nonchalantly replied as he made his way back to his room—where his video games resided, "We just told you,"

Kagome followed the voice and persisted her question. "I know that, why is she frantic over dinner?"

"She didn't tell you?" Souta paused his game to give her a look. "Are you playing games? I thought she already told you. Her new boyfriend is coming over tonight for dinner."

Kagome's eyes widened in horror.

Souta laughed as he thought out loud. "You couldn't have picked a more perfect day—or unlucky, if you want to say—day to come back. He's coming over to the house for the first time so Mom can see how we get along with him and stuff. From there, if things go well, then they'll share a more 'intimate' relationship."

The information had barely registered in her mind before she found herself blurting, "How do you know all this?"

A smirk was on Souta's face. "That's for me to know."

"Let me guess: you eavesdropped on a conversation on the phone involving him?"

Her little brother didn't answer, but resumed his game.

"Brat," she mumbled as she turned and went into her room to pack more necessaries for the next trip to the Warring States Era.

She had just finished packing enough of clothes for the few weeks it would require to hunt down and destroy the oni, Naraku, when her Mom knocked on the door and came in.

"Kagome, I hate to bother you, but I need you to wear one of your dresses."

Kagome gave her mother a questioning look, "Which one?"

"Any one's fine, dear." Mom's eye's suddenly brightened as an idea came, "Or you could wear your kimono. You know, the one Grandpa got from that one shop?"

Dresses? Kimono? This guy had to be something to get Mom so worked up. She never had Kagome wear anything really fancy for other guests. When her father's mother had come to visit when Dad died she didn't really need to wear anything extremely special, and she barely knew her Grandma from her dad's side.

"Um. . . sure. What's Souta wearing?"

"I think I can whip something up," Mom replied.

Kagome, mouth forming a small oval, nodded mutely in answer as her mother left the room.

Yes, apparently this guy meant a lot to her. _A lot_.

Kagome sighed as she contemplated on how this—this stranger had walked in and taken her Mom. That wasn't good.

She slowly got up and walked over to her small closet to search for that kimono. Kagome had a growing urge to shred it and walk down there in front of this guy in raggedy jeans and a stained shirt, but the fact that this guy probably made her Mom happy, and the fact that the kimono was pretty expensive—very expensive, was enough to comply with her Mom's wishes and slip into the beautiful silk kimono.

When she had tied the last of the cords, she straitened it out and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Not all too bad. She actually looked okay.

Now for her hair. Kagome picked up a brushed and cleared her long tresses of knots before tying it back in a loose pony-tail at the nape of her neck.

It was just then that the original reason for her return popped into her head and she jumped in surprise at herself for forgetting before flinging her door open and hurrying down the steps, nearly toppling her brother.

"Sorry," Kagome mumbled as she slowed down to a walk and continued into the kitchen where her mother was putting the final touches on the huge dinner.

"Sheesh, Mom. What? Are we feeding an army?"

Her mother giggled. "Do you really think I over-did it?"

Kagome shrugged. "Depends; how much does he mean to you? Do you like him?"

Mom seemed taken aback at first. "Of course I do! I wouldn't be doing this if he didn't!"

"Yeah, okay. Then you're not going too far or over-doing it. If you care about someone, you're willing to do anything to please them or make them happy. You want them to feel comfortable anywhere—especially around you. So it's normal to overexert yourself when he's involved."

"You're exactly right. That's how I feel."

Kagome mentally jumped.

'_Oops, did I say that out loud?'_

She hadn't actually been telling her mother that for advice, really, she was more applying it to herself.

It hurt, but lately she had been so confused about Inuyasha. She felt such warmness for him—maybe love?—but she felt scared that he would go with Kikyo and that made her doubt him, and that made the warmness go away.

It scared her, worried her. If she wasn't in love with Inuyasha, then . . . what? What did she feel? It might be love. She was so sure it was. Life was so hard to sift through . . .

The door's chime brought her out of her reverie, and Mom jumped, ripping off her apron to reveal the fancy dark skirt and pretty shirt.

"He's here," she practically yelped as she hurried to the door.

Kagome's stomach had risen to her throat in fear. All the reasons why she shouldn't go out there rang in her head. What if he was a stalker? Murderer? Rapist—?

'_Stop! This is Mom! Nothing will happen! She's smart, intelligent, mature. She can decide for herself whether or not this guy is all he's cracked up to be- unless he tricked her. Oh, god!_'

Gathering all the courage she could muster, Kagome walked into the room where her mother and the guy where talking together on the sofa with Souta sitting nearby on the floor.

The first thing she saw was her mother's blushing face. The second was _him._

'_He . . . he doesn't look so bad . . .'_

That was when she froze in her spot. He had a darker aura, like—like—like someone. Someone she knew . . . Who, though?

The two didn't seem to notice her so she made her way and sat in an incliner chair next to Souta.

"What are they talking about?" Kagome murmured.

"Um. . . philosophy and stuff like that?"

Philosophy?

"Really?" Kagome's gaze shot to look at him; she could barely keep the shock out of her voice.

"Mm," his attention slid somewhere else.

"Souta? Hey, Souta?"

He didn't answer so she shrugged it off and pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them protectively.

She still didn't like the feel of that guy's aura, but he didn't seem to do anything that would suggest he was a murderer or something.

'_Maybe I'm just over-reacting.'_ She reasonably thought, _'Yeah, maybe I'm just worried that this will be like hammering the last nail in Dad's grave and locking him out.'_

Maybe; and it was totally stupid to do it. No matter what, her mother would always care about her father.

Mom's laughter filled her ears—a happy, carefree laugh—and Kagome immediately took back her thoughts and smashed them to bits.

No, this wasn't good. Kagome had one good memory where her mother laughed like that with her _father_. Not some weird, evil aura-d _stranger_.

No.

No!

NO!

She didn't like this anymore; she needed to talk to her mother. To hear her soothing, loving voice directed at her.

"Mom!"

The man stopped mid-sentence as Mom turned her eyes toward Kagome, "Honey, what is it? It's rude to interrupt someone when they're talking like that, dear."

Kagome felt hurt at the appalled tone her mother used.

But that didn't stop her from standing up and darting in her mother's arms, burying her face in the warm chest.

"K—Kagome? What on—?" her mother stuttered.

"I love you," Kagome whispered against the light sweater that Mom had put on.

Her mother smiled and gave Kagome a slight hug, smiled, and tilted her daughter's chin up to look at her face. "I love you, too, sweetie. But right now I'd like you to meet someone."

Kagome bit her tongue to keep from making a face at what her mother said, "Okay."

"Kagome," her Mom stood up, gently grabbing onto her wrist and pulling her up along with her, "I'd like you to meet a very special person."

They both turned and Mom gestured toward the man that had also stood up. He was about three inches taller than her mother. "This—this, my dear—is Akito Sohma."

"I've heard so many good things about you," Akito said.

Kagome took the chance to examine him. Dark eyes. Purple—or was it black? Dark hair, too. On anyone else it might have looked a bit odd to have somewhat messy hair, but on him it looked somewhat good, she had to admit.

Suddenly, what he said sank in and she calmly, with false cheerfulness replied, "Vice versa."

"No matter what, though, anything she said could not have justified your actual beauty. That kimono is beautiful on you."

A small blush rose on her cheeks, and she felt disgusted. How could she fall for such awful lines? Then again, anyone give her a compliment and she was a red tomato. "Thanks," she found herself replying.

'_What? Wait! _No!_ I didn't say that! I did not just thank him! Oh, no! I fell right into his trap . . . Well, at least now I know how Mom fell for him.'_

How old was this guy, anyway? Not too old. As old as Mom? He looked young. But then again, Mom didn't look that old, either.

'_Skeleton in every closet, no matter how neat looking from the outside.'_

But how to find something like that? Kagome could not have Mom marrying him until she found every twist and turn that may be in his closet. Mom would not marry some thug—that was for sure.

'_But how to find the corners?'_

She thought about that as Akito stood there talking about the compliment Mom had made about her. Kagome could slightly smell the scent of dinner that had wafted through the hall—

'_Okay, Kagome you found a way, now use it.'_

Kagome put on an extra cheerful smile and bowed slightly. "I humbly apologize for my awful rudeness." She paused to bow to her mother as well—this might work!

"But Okaa-san's food has my stomach occupied. Would you mind if we talked as we ate?"

Akito seemed a bit pleased by her manner's as he gave a smile that even she had to admit was somewhat . . . cute . . . and handsome at the same time.

"I would be pleased to try some of your mother's delicious cooking, Higurashi-sama," Akito answered in a cool manner—another thing to add to Kagome's mental list of things to hate about him.

Kagome's mother giggled. "Akito-san! Please, my home is yours right now. Call us as you would your own."

"I would be proud to." He flashed another smile, but this time Kagome didn't think it was cute. No, this time it had an eerie, creepy, evil look to it.

Her mother, however, flustered slightly. "About dinner," she mumbled as she stood and gestured for everyone to follow her to the dining table.

'_Am I losing it? Am I paranoid? Am I going crazy? How can that creepy dude be a saint in her eyes?'_

She then followed them into the kitchen area.

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Kagome shoved her kimono into her closet before flopping onto the bed and groaning into the pillow, the only thing she could do to keep from screaming.

Rushing dinner had been anything but the right thing to do! Not only did she have to act so polite and resist the urge to shudder every time Akito had poked a joke in her direction—Souta had gotten along splendidly with him, and she had appeared to be his best bud, acting so stupidly polite!

Kagome pounded her fist into her soft mattress soundlessly as she remembered the proposal her mother had made at the end of dinner. How could Kagome have been so stupid?

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Could she have died from stupidity?

Because everyone seemed to get along, her mother had offered Akito the chance to stay next week to see if allowing their relationship to grow was a good choice.

No, the world had just ended, and Kagome would have rather been captured by Naraku—after some consideration—than live udder the same roof as that jerk! He stole her mother! He brainwashed her!

Kagome sighed before rolling over to look at the ceiling.

Tears of frustration blurred her vision. Maybe—just maybe—her mother would let her go to the Warring States Era next week . . . Yeah, right!

But Naraku was so close, and even if her mother wouldn't allow her to go, Inuyasha would probably barrel through the door and drag her back to the well and shove her threw, making sure to somehow temporarily sealing it so she couldn't go back.

Kagome smiled as she thought of how Akito would react to a silver-haired, dog-eared hanyou charging threw, 'kidnapping' her, and vanishing for a few weeks.

She quietly laughed, picturing him saying in his cool tone—that freaky smile in place. "I must be seeing things," or "I guess I forgot to take my pills."

That's it! Kagome jolted into a sitting position.

She'd prove him crazy! She'd show her mother that he wasn't the little perfect person he appeared to be. And he looked too young. Kagome made a face when she realized that Akito could pass for a teenager dating her.

Her thoughts were abruptly stopped when her mother gently knocked on her door and slowly opened it.

"Hey, how are you holding up?"

"Good," Kagome mumbled.

Her Mom walked around and sat at the foot of the bed. "Sure? You don't mind Akito staying here next week?"

'Yes_!'_

"No, it's fine."

Her mother's facial expression softened and she reached over and hugged her daughter tight, "Oh, honey. I was so scared I had rushed things! I thought you were mad at me."

'_Not you—him.'_

"I thought you weren't ready for something like this. There hasn't really been a father-figure in the house since your Dad died."

Kagome could only nod her understanding as her mother drew back.

"But, Kagome, don't be afraid to tell me if you don't feel comfortable at any point in time with him."

"I know."

There was a small silence before Kagome mustered up the courage to ask something. "Mama, can I go shopping tomorrow after school?"

"Whatever for, dear?"

"I need to restock on emergency food supplies and Shippo ran out of lollipops."

Her mother laughed. "He's going to get sick with you spoiling him like that."

"I know, but he's, like . . . I don't know, a son, I guess," Kagome admitted sheepishly. "But I was thinking I could go shopping with Eri, Yuka, and—"

Her words were cut off when her mother held up her hand. "Kagome, that's something else I need to talk to you about. You're about to begin your third year of high school and I received a phone call about your absences last year. Apparently, you only went to school about fifty times last year."

"Oh?" Kagome had a rising fear in her chest. Was her mother going to cut her off from the Warring States Era? From Inuyasha?

"So, I've decided to have you go to a different high school. It's for the best."

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Okaa-san: mother

**Well, I got bored with the other story, so I've decided to start this Fruits Basket/Inuyasha crossover – actually, it's my first crossover, period. And I intend on putting my heart and soul into it to make you happy and pleased to read it.**

**But, but, but. That doesn't mean I'm stopping my other story. Give me feed back, though! Tell me what you think! Does it suck? Is it rushed? Should I stop? Should I continue? And this will contain some TohruxYuki, if you don't like it, then don't read it!**

**Well, no matter what, I'm going to continue. And the FB group comes in next time. **

**Later!**


	2. Meet and Greet

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"Ah, there it is," a soft voice murmured as a hand reached up to grab the small bottle. The brunette dipped the bottle and allowed a small amount of the salt to trickle into breakfast.

A groan came from the doorway and Tohru peeked over her shoulder before giggling. "Kyo-kun, you look tired."

"That's an understatement," he mumbled.

"But you're usually such a morning person. Half the time you wake up before me. What's wrong? Anything bothering you?"

"No," he mumbled, relieving her fears as he stifled a yawn.

"Then . . . why?"

"I decided to finish a project in English and had to stay up late to do it—really late."

"Oh! I'm happy you finished it and hope you get a good mark for it!" Tohru exclaimed as she dished up some breakfast for Kyo, Yuki, and herself, placing it on the table.

"Eh, looks good," Kyo said as he sat down and started to eat.

Tohru positively beamed at that. "Where's Yuki-kun?"

"Don't know," Kyo mumbled through his steaming food.

Tohru had barely had the time to sigh before Yuki himself walked in the kitchen.

"Yuki-kun!" Tohru exclaimed in surprise. "Are you hungry? I dished up your breakfast for you. It's on the table."

Yuki smiled at her. "Thanks, and I apologize to you for making you wait for me."

Tohru brushed off his apology. "Yuki-kun, please, unless you want to be late for school, I suggest you eat."

Yuki gave one last smile at Tohru, making her melt in her shoes, before going over and sitting as far away from Kyo as possible.

"Okay," Tohru murmured, taking her seat between the two. "So, Yuki-kun, how has school been going for you?"

Yuki finished swallowing before replying—once again with a smile directed at Tohru, "Fine. Why? Do you need any help?"

Concern filled his eyes and Tohru hurriedly relieved his fears. "No. I just wanted to make sure you were doing fine with school."

'_But I could use a little help with Foreign Language.'_

The next few minutes were filled with Tohru happily chattering while the two Sohma's listened and answered any questions she dished out.

_**-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-**_

'_Not so bad . . . big, probably bigger than my other school; but not bad.'_

Kagome examined the large building in front of her. Other teenagers were laughing, running around, and talking to friends.

'_Friends . . .'_ Kagome felt a small pang in her chest.

'_I could make new friends, though . . . Look at the good side! No more . . . no more . . . no more . . . Hojo? Yes, no more Hojo-kun begging for dates.'_

A small voice snorted inside her head, _'Admit it; you liked it when he did that.'_

'_Shut-up.'_

She looked around for any one that seemed to be standing alone that she could talk to. She felt weird standing here alone. Unfortunately, though, everyone was in their own 'clique.'

'_I'll have to call Eri and the gang when I get home to tell them how much I miss them.'_

Deciding not to be late on her first day at a new school, Kagome started up the path to the entrance doors.

Stopping at the Main Office, she obtained her schedule from a secretary who was on the phone—and had given Kagome a mouthed, "Welcome to our school"—and stopped in the hall to examine it.

'_English first? Great . . . hate English.'_

She mentally grumbled the whole way to the classroom the schedule said her class would be in.

She had just grabbed the door handle to the classroom and was about to open it when she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.

Kagome whirled to face the person.

"Sorry, did I scare you? I'm the teacher of this class—Mrs. Yumata."

"Uh . . . hi."

"Hello. You don't look familiar, are you new?"

"Y—yes," she stuttered back.

"May I take your name?"

"Higurashi Kagome."

The elder woman smiled, "Class is about to begin, but we don't get many new students. This is a very special treat. Would you mind if I made a public introduction to the class?"

A light pink flustered her cheeks. "I guess not." She mumbled back.

"Great!" Mrs. Yumata grabbed on to her wrist and opened the door.

"Stand in front of the chalk board," The teacher whispered to her, then turned to the quieting teens.

"Good morning class. Today we have a treat. A new student." The teacher was practically humming with excitement. "May I introduce Kagome Higurashi-san."

Kagome's cheeks were dimming in redness as she thought of anything except all the people that were staring at her like she was a new species.

But someone coughed, another sneezed, and a paper fluttered to the floor.

'_Rude-much.'_

"You may sit in any seat of your choosing."

Kagome looked around the room and saw that only a few seats were untaken.

One by a girl, one by a boy who was writing on his discolored skin, and one who was scribbling on a piece of paper.

Mrs. Yumata seemed to get quickly impatient with Kagome's long hesitation, "Higurashi-sama, there are three seats—do you want me to pick one for you?"

"No," she murmured walking over to the desk that was next to a girl.

'_Like there was a choice.'_

"Now, everyone please open your books to page three . . ."

Kagome did as she was told, as did the rest of the class, before her mind zoned out on 'plot Akito'—only a few words from the teacher's lesson reaching her brain.

'_He's coming over tonight to start his week at our house . . . that doesn't solve anything. . . .'_

There was a small tap on her shoulder and Kagome turned her head to look at the person. It was the girl she was sitting by. She had dark hair and wore black nail-polish.

"Um, can I help you?" Kagome whispered silently.

"You have very pleasant waves. But there is something in them that seems. . . chaotic," the girl softly answered.

"Oh, uh . . ." she racked her brain for a decent answer.

'_I don't sense waves! Bu—oh! I _can_ sense auras.'_

"Your aura seems perplexed."

'_That was easy.'_

The girl seemed slightly taken aback at first. "We seem to be alike in some way."

'_Alike? _Alike_? Alike how_?_'_

"Um . . . I don't think I understand—"

"Higurashi!" the teacher barked. "Please feel free to answer my question."

"Uh . . ." Kagome could feel her face burn under all the stares of her classmates.

"Just as I thought. Now class; what's the punishment for students who rudely interrupt their teachers?"

"After-school detention," the class answered in unison.

"That's right. But because Higurashi-san is new, I'll let her off the hook this once. This is your only warning."

"I understand," Kagome mumbled.

"Thank-you. Now, where was I . . .?"

The teacher started chattering on and on again about the lesson like nothing had happened. Maybe in her book nothing did, though.

Kagome sighed as little ideas popped in her head on how to find one of the 'skeletons' in the closet of Akito.

Though she had tiny bits of a million ideas, none of them fit together properly. A sharp pain pierced the back of her neck, where her skull connected to her backbone, and Kagome absent-mindedly rubbed it, knowing all too well that she was thinking way too hard.

'_But I have to save Mom, she comes first. But how do I save her from him? How do I . . . help her?'_

A small voice whispered in the back of her head, _'Find his motive.'_

Motive! Hah! Yes, everyone has a motive! He had one too, she was sure of it. Now she just had to find it.

The smile that had adorned her face slowly fell off.

'_Easier said than done! I don't know anything about him!'_

Holding back a growl of frustration that she couldn't think of anything logical, she picked up her pen and began the assignment that the teacher had just given out.

Kagome must have pressed a little too hard, because, about twice, her pen tore through the page and scribbled on the one underneath.

'_Nerves.'_

With that, she loosened her death grip and calmly continued her work.

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'_One more class; one more class and then I have lunch! _Then, _well, then, that's when the real fun with the plan begins.'_

Kagome stopped for a second to readjust her books that were starting to slowly slide out of her grip. She had just straightened up when something—or preferably _someone_—crashed into her, causing her to stumble and drop all her books and papers—which didn't drop, but flew away instead.

Kagome groaned and dropped to her knees. "This is not my day."

"It hasn't exactly been mine, either," a peevish voice answered.

Startled, Kagome turned to see a boy. Most likely the boy who had run into her.

'_I thought he would have run away.'_

"Um, hi!" Kagome yelped, jumping to her feet, "I'm Higurashi Kagome," she held out her hand. "I'm new here and I'm sorry . . . if . . . I . . ." she trailed off as she realized he wasn't really listening.

"Excuse me?"

He snapped back to attention. "Yeah, okay."

"Um. . . by any chance, may I have _your_ name?"

The bell then rang and they both jumped. "Damn! I'm not getting my hair dyed for 'skipping homeroom.' "

Kagome gave the boy a look. "Wha—?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I guess I better help you with the mess I made."

Without further conversation, he picked up her books and papers and handed them to her. Numbly, she reached out and accepted them. Though her hands worked, her brain at that moment had taken a little vacation and it took a few minutes for her to mumble a "thank-you."

"No problem, I guess I should say sorry. I'm just tired. Guess I don't pay much attention when I'm like this."

Kagome thought it was positively cute when his cheeks pinkened slightly.

And she felt disappointed when he turned to walk away.

"Kyo," he called over his shoulder, loud enough for her to hear. "My name is Kyo."

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Kagome's heart thudded and she could hear her pulse in her ears when she skidded to a halt outside the classroom door. Panting, she opened it to reveal the sounds of pens scratching on paper and a woman's voice. "But when you conjugate le verbe _aller_—oh, it seems we have a late comer."

The teacher had put down the piece of chalk she had been using to write with and gave Kagome a puzzled look. "I'm sorry, but you don't look—"

"I'm new here," Kagome bit in. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Is there a particular reason as to why you were so?"

"I couldn't find the room."

The teacher's eyebrows rose. "Why didn't you ask for help? There are plenty of students that could have pointed you in the direction,"

"I . . . I . . .I dropped my books." Kagome hated the fact that her excuse sounded—as well as made her look—stupid.

The teacher shook her head and sighed. "Take a seat over there please; I suppose this once is okay, but if you're late again, you'll have to be punished."

Kagome did as she was told and walked back to the seat the teacher had pointed at.

Flopping in the chair, she stifled a sigh of exasperation.

'_Some first day.'_

Holding back the urge to bang her head against the desk table, Kagome picked up a pen and started to scribble down the notes that were being written on the blackboard.

Twenty minutes later, the teacher turned to the class. "I'm going to hand out a project. It's not too complicated, so don't worry. The pairings will be alphabetical. I'll just make every two people partners. Understood?"

"Yes," the class replied, sounding as if they were holding back groans of agitation—which they most likely were.

"Okay, now, Yuri? You're with Yoshiko. . . ."

Kagome leaned back in her chair.

'_Project? Project on my first day? Aish! Could they be any ruder? My day is down the drain.'_

"Kagome—I got your name correct, yes?—you're with Tohru."

'_Tohru? I got paired with a_ boy_?'_

"Okay, class. Now that you have your partners, I want you to meet somewhere in the room with them so I can give you the rest of the instructions."

There were many screeching of chairs as the students stood and walked to the person they were partnered with before returning to an empty pair of desks.

Kagome looked around for a boy named Tohru. She had no idea what he looked like, but it would be obvious who he was when she could see him walking towards her.

There was a tap on her shoulder from behind and Kagome turned around.

"Hi!" a brunette cheerfully greeted.

"Uh . . ."

"I'm Tohru. Tohru Honda."

"Oh . . .?" Kagome must have looked pretty puzzled.

"And you're Kagome Higurashi?"

"Yeah."

"And we're partners . . . !"

"Oh . . .?" A slight pause followed before it clicked. "Oh! Yes, we are! Sorry, blonde moment!" Kagome bowed in apology.

Tohru giggled. "But you're not blonde."

Kagome shrugged. "Ah, who cares? I could die it; then it would be blonde."

Tohru smiled warmly as the teacher started talking again.

"Okay, class. Here are your instructions: You are to read this children's chapter book and translate it. Once that's done, I want you to write a review on how you liked or didn't like it while pretending to be a child reading this."

"What book is it?" someone called.

"You will find out when you receive it," the teacher answered. "And I would appreciate it dearly if you weren't so inconsiderate and were to raise your hand and wait to be called on like any other student would do."

"Sorry," the boy mumbled.

"Okay. Each pair will receive one book. You will have to have this project done in two weeks from today. Now, please, will one person from every pair get a book?"

"I'll get it," Kagome said as she stood up.

"No, no! Don't go through the trouble of that! I'll get it."

"I insist that I get it," Kagome replied.

The two girls looked at each other.

"You'll get it!" they both said at the same time.

"Okay, then, I'll get it!" They both turned, about to walk over when they looked at each other again.

"How about I hand it to you?" a peeved voice asked; "here," the teacher slammed the book down on the desk Kagome had been sitting at. "Enjoy your project." With that, the teacher whirled and marched back over to her podium to give out more instructions.

Kagome and Tohru snuck a quiet giggle in before the teacher could start talking again, "Okay, now, there is a 'divorce date' in four days. That means that if you and your partner can't seem to get along or one of you is doing all the work, then you come to me, I make sure you both have a separate copy of the book, and you work alone."

A silent murmur of 'divorce date' flooded the room.

"Now, are there any questions?"

She paused as she looked around. "None? That means that on the day this is due I will receive perfect 100's from everyone?"

She paused again. "Okay, then you're free for the last few minutes of class to converse on your project. And if I hear anything but that, the consequences will be severe."

"Don't mind her, she's just a little different," Tohru informed Kagome with a smile.

"I'm used to different," Kagome replied with a shrug.

"Well, this book, what's it called?"

" '_Falling In.'_ What the—? This is a _children's _chapter book? I don't think so! It has over three-hundred pages!"

Bewildered, Kagome excused herself from Tohru and walked over to where the teacher was sitting.

"Can I help you?" the teacher asked looking up from her own copy of the book.

"What age group did you say this is for?"

"Well, at first glance I thought it was children's, but now that I take a closer look, it turns out to be a young adults. Very fascinating read I might add."

"Are you going to give us a different book, then?"

"I don't see why I should."

Taking a deep breath to calm her ragged nerves, Kagome calmly said, "It will take more then two weeks to translate this."

The teacher flipped through the book before pausing, taking her time to answer. "So you're right. Class? I'll give you three weeks to translate the book."

'_Three—? What in—?'_

Grounding her teeth to hold back the insult that burned in her mouth, Kagome walked back over to Tohru as serenely as possible.

"We have three weeks now? Awesome!" Tohru exclaimed happily.

Kagome merely grumbled.

_**-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-**_

The minutes came pain-stakingly slow for Kagome, but finally the bell rang and she jumped up, happy that class was over.

"So how are we going to do this?" Kagome questioned Tohru as they gathered their belongings and headed out the door to lunch.

"Huh, well, we could do it chapter-by-chapter. Each one is only about seven pages."

Kagome considered this. "Okay, and we can see how many chapters there are and see how long we should take on each one."

"Yeah," Tohru flipped the book open and checked the Table of Contents. "Um, I can't count that high in French."

"Let me see," Kagome kindly suggested, pulling the book from Tohru's grasp.

The first reaction from Kagome was a gasp, followed by a groan. "This book has forty-two chapters! Even if we did do one a day we wouldn't be able to finish it in time!"

"Maybe we could do a chapter every day at lunch and then another one all through the day during free periods," Tohru suggested.

Kagome considered that. "It might work, but we'd have to start now if we did it that way."

"Then let's go! We gotta hurry and finish lunch! We got work to do!"

Kagome couldn't help but giggle at her optimistic attitude. "Yes."

"And maybe you could meet some of my friends, to, while we're at it."

"As long as they don't distract us . . ."

"Oh, they won't. They're really good at not bothering me when I'm doing school work and helping me when I need it."

"If you're sure," Kagome replied uneasily.

"And I'm sure their dying to meet you."

"Dying, yeah."

"Ah, here we are, the cafeteria."

"Oh. . . It's. . .big."

"Yeah. Oh, look! My friends are over there!" Tohru grabbed onto Kagome's hand and led her over to a table that was almost crammed with people. Tohru seated Kagome down and then sat on her right. Kagome couldn't help but stare a little at the boy she was placed by that was wearing what seemed to be a _girl's_ uniform.

"Tohru-kun!" the boy bubbled.

"Hello, Momiji-kun. This is my friend."

"What's her name?"

"Kagome Higurashi-sama."

Momiji gave Kagome a look over. "She's really pretty."

That got a blush from Kagome who muttered, "Thanks." She turned to look at the other people at the table. She couldn't help but think that the aura of three of the teens she was by seemed to take a shape of an animal, a cat, cow and a rat. Confused, she glanced at the boy—Momiji—she was sitting to, to try and see if he was the same. She nearly yelped in surprise when she felt what seemed to be a rabbit aura nuzzling against her from the boy. Confused, she allowed her gaze to wander back only to meet the stare of a dark purple pair of eyes.

"We meet again," the girl said in monotone.

"Yes, I see we do."

'_I'll have to think about that later.'_

"You already met Saki Hanajima-san?" Tohru beamed.

"Yes, in English," Kagome smoothly replied.

"You're waves seemed to have grown a bit . . .confused."

Kagome smiled before replying. "As I said earlier, your aura still seems a bit perplexed."

That earned a stare from everyone. Hanajima, however, seemed pleased. "Yes, we are much alike."

Kagome shrugged, "If you say so, but I don't think . . ." she deliberately cut herself of and thought the rest of that sentence.

'_I don't think you run from demons everyday, are looking for the last few shards of a broken, ancient jewel, and is hunting down an evil force to try and destroy it.'_

"Don't think what?" Momiji questioned.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you."

"Try us. We have our weird secrets, too."

Kagome turned to face the owner of the voice—a white headed boy. Strangely, though, he had a bit of a black tint to it near the base of his neck. Maybe he died it?

"Yes, but no matter what I tell you, I won't be able to tell you and have you believe me Mr. . . .?" her sentence drifted off and Tohru gasped.

"I didn't introduce everyone! My apologies, Higurashi-san. This is Momiji Sohma-kun, Saki Hanajima-san, Arisa Uo-san, Hatsuharu Sohma-kun, Yuki Sohma-kun, and Kyo Sohma-kun." She gestured to each one as she said their name.

Two things stuck out to Kagome, 1) the name 'Sohma' sounded incredibly familiar for some reason, and 2) Kyo, the boy who knocked into her, was sitting there.

Kyo, hearing his name, looked up to meet the eyes of Kagome. There was a pause before they both flew up out of their seat saying in unison, "You!"

This, of course, gathered the attention of the other Sohma's, Tohru, Hanajima, and Uo.

"What? Oh, you've met already?" Tohru asked excitedly.

"You . . . could say that," Kagome replied, her gaze not braking Kyo's. "Did you get in trouble because of me?"

Kyo shook his head as he slowly sat. "No, that bitch wouldn't do anything."

Kagome looked relieved as she sat, too.

"I guess I should be asking you that question, huh?" Kyo muttered, not daring to look Kagome in the eye.

"I didn't . . . well, I'm new and the teacher said they'd let me off the hook this once."

". . .Good . . ."

Tohru was absolutely confused by now. "What?" she asked, looking from Kyo to Kagome in question.

"Oh, well, we had a little run-in in the hall and I dropped my books. Kyo-kun was so nice as to help me retrieve them."

Tohru clapped her hands in excitement. "Really? That's great Kyo-kun."

Kyo merely muttered darkly.

"Well, Kagome-san, if we're going to finish this project, we'd better start it."

"Yeah . . . hey, Tohru?"

"Uh-huh?"

"When I walked in this morning, it sounded as if the teacher was conjugating verbs. And yet, we're translating a book—a_ lo-o-ong _book—why is that?"

"Oh, um, well, uh, a—a—question was asked on the different ways of conjugating verbs."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Uh-huh."

"Okay, well, this thing won't translate itself," Kagome muttered.

"Yeah, we better start, we only got three weeks."

Kagome took that time to mumble under her breath about evil teachers and French books as she reached for her binder and pen that was lying on the ground.

"So we have the title—_'Falling In.'_ "

Tohru nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you think we should do the Table of Contents?"

Tohru thought about that. "I think we should wait until the end and see if we have time to do that."

"Good idea. Okay, so 'Chapter _One: The wind and rain . . . pounded against the . . . window creating a rhythm_.' " Kagome began, taking a long time to check everything over, just to make sure she didn't mix up a verb.

"Wow, sounds like a good book," Tohru observed as she slowly read the first paragraph.

Kagome grunted in reply as she kept writing. This was impossible!

_**-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-**_

**Okay, people. I got some reviews asking about who Kagome was going to be paired up with. My answer? . . .Very good question. I've been wondering that myself. At first my mind screamed 'Inu/Kag,' but now I sorta want a Kyo/Kag. So, I want _you_ to tell me what pairing you want through a review poll. I think I'll close the poll by chapter five. You'll be able to vote once per chapter – which means you can vote twice in the same review for chapters one and two. **

**And the book (the French one?)? It doesn't exist. –roll eyes– I made it up for this story, so don't flame me for it, okay? Speaking of flames, I'm surprised I didn't get any for pairing up Akito and Kag's mom. And to relieve your fears (or start them up), there's a reason he's dating her, it's not affection. And I need to put a disclaimer. I kinda forgot last chapter. . . so here it is:**

**Disclaimer: I'm poor, okay? I don't have money, so I can't buy or own that adorable hanyou, Inuyasha, or those kawaii Zodiac animals. . . or rather those hunks Yuki and Kyo. Maybe I could rent them, though? **


	3. Project Time

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

'_Home-bound!'_

"Kagome-san, how are we going to go about this project?"

"Um, well, we could meet once a day for about an hour or two."

"Yes, that would be best. I'm so excited."

Kagome couldn't help but smile at Tohru's enthusiasm. "Where should we start this?"

Tohru pondered that for a second before replying, "You mean like whose house we should start this at?"

"Mm-hm!"

"Well, do you have any company over?"

Kagome inwardly cringed at the unknown reminder Tohru had given her. "I'd have to ask Mama when you could come over next. We've been real busy with visiting family members."

"Oh . . . then maybe I could call you and we could meet somewhere?"

"Yeah, that would be great!"

"The weather's supposed to be really nice for the next few days, so we could meet at a near-by park."

Kagome smiled. "Sounds great."

"Yeah, and maybe after the weather takes a turn for the worst and if you still have company coming, then maybe, if Yuki-kun and Kyo-kun don't mind, you could come over to our house and work."

"'Our house?_' _" Kagome repeated slowly.

"Oh," Tohru slapped her forehead. "I forgot you didn't know yet." Tohru bowed. "I'm sorry, Kagome-sama. I'm living with the Sohma's. They were so kind as to take me in when my mother died."

"Oh."

'_Oh? The girl lost her mother and all you can say is 'oh'? How pathetic can you get?'_

"Do you enjoy living with the Sohma's?"

Tohru nodded her head vigorously. "Oh, yes; very much so!"

Kagome smiled. "Then that's all that matters."

Tohru's cheeks pinkened, but she smiled as well. "I guess so."

Kagome had the sudden urge to be home. Pulling up her sleeve to glance at her wristwatch—though she didn't even see what time it was—Kagome gasped and tugged her sleeve harshly to bring it back down. "I'm sorry, Tohru, but I really have to be going. Do you mind?"

"No, not at all. Please forgive me for keeping you."

Kagome couldn't hold back her giggle. "It's okay. So, I'll see you sometime tonight? I could call you—oh! I forgot to give you my number. Blonde moment," Kagome slid her book bag off her shoulders to pull out a piece of paper and a pen. She scribbled her home phone number on it before holding it out for the timid girl to take. "This is my number. You can call me sometime tonight."

Tohru took the piece of paper before opening her mouth to speak.

"Don't worry, you can give me yours some other time. But now, I really have to go—I'm sorry for leaving on such rude terms."

"It's okay; I'll make sure to call tonight."

Kagome smiled before she turned and took off for her house. She had barely walked a block when she felt a sudden urge of energy from the one happy thought that rang in her head.

'_Now, I have to catch one of Akito's skeletons!' _

Those words repeated itself over and over again as Kagome ran the rest of the way home.

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

"Damn it."

"If you keep that up, you're going to wear a hole in the ground."

"I'm going!"

Miroku sighed. "Inuyasha, calm down."

"Two days, two damn days she's been gone!" the hanyou seethed.

Miroku rolled his eyes. "You're over-exaggerating. She left yesterday; she's only been gone a day and a half."

"That's still too much," Inuyasha's pacing stride quickened. He suddenly stopped. "I'm going."

"Do you think it wise? Kagome-sama will likely be upset if you follow her; and I already told you that she's most likely re-stocking on supplies."

Inuyasha growled. "I'm still going." He took a few steps toward the well.

Miroku sighed. "I wouldn't if I were you, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha stopped but didn't distance himself from the well. "Why?"

"If you go, Kagome-sama might not bring back any of the ramen stuff for you."

The hanyou's ears flattened, but he still didn't move away from the portal. "Keh! I can go a few days without ramen."

That said, he took a few more strides to the well.

"Not only will she not have ramen for you, she won't have any dried potatoes."

Inuyasha hesitated, his hand on the lip of the old wooden portal poised to jump in. "That's okay . . . It'll only be a few days."

"More than that, Inuyasha. We're close to catching Naraku. She won't be able to go back for—"

"I'm going now!"

Inuyasha leapt into the well, not wanting to hear just _how_ long he'd go without his favorite treats . . . and how many times he was likely to get sat.

'_Keh! Idiot wench.'_

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

'_What do I know about him?'_

Kagome didn't expect an answer to that question.

'_Why is he dating Mom?'_

That question wouldn't get one either.

Kagome sighed as she slowed her pace at the bottom of the steps leading to the shrine. She panted as she used her hand to lean against a nearby tree.

'_What do I do now?'_

A small voice in the back of her head whispered its response. _'Watch him.'_

Of course . . . he was staying under their roof for a week . . . she had seven days to discover why he was there.

Kagome smiled as she stood up straight.

'_It will work. I know it will. It has to.'_

Kagome smiled. It would work. She would make it.

"Oi, wench!"

Kagome froze in her tracks and looked upwards.

There, looking like a tiger unleashed from a cage, was Inuyasha at the top of the temple stairs.

"I—Inuyasha?" Kagome's puzzled expression turned to a scowl. "What are you doing here?" she hissed.

"I should ask you that."

Kagome, trying her best to hold her dignity in public, climbed the rest of the steps. "Get in the shrine. . . now."

Inuyasha's ears twitched at the slight growl in her tone but didn't move. "Keh. Wench, you can't boss me around."

Kagome clenched her jaw. "Why are you out of the house without a hat? Are you that stupid? Youkai don't just skip around here, Inuyasha."

"No, I know youkai don't skip. Only girls do that."

Kagome ignored his comment and whirled around, heading for the shrine. Inuyasha stormed after her. "Wench, you can't ignore me."

Kagome clutched the hem of her skirt as she continued to stride to the door.

"Wench," Inuyasha growled low, in warning. "You better—What the hell?"

Ears flattening against his head, Inuyasha quickened his pace and latched onto Kagome wrist. "Kagome, who the hell is in your house?"

The girl stopped and gave him a curious look. "In my . . . house? I don't know—Oh my god! He's here? Already? Inuyasha, let go now!"

"What?"

"We have a visitor over; now you need to let me go." She struggled in his grasp, desperately trying to break free.

"Who the hell is this 'he'?"

"He's . . . he's no one. Now let me go or I'll say it." She stopped fighting his grip, but turned to face him.

"Keh, I'm not worrie—"

"Sit."

The necklace glowed and Inuyasha was weighted down as the beads activated. His hand slipped off her wrist as he got pulled to the ground and she took the opportunity to jog over to the door. "You better not come in while he's around," she hissed quietly to the inu hanyou, knowing that he heard her very clearly as she slipped into her home.

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

"Here you are Akito-san. You're room. I hope you enjoy your stat here." Kagome bowed politely as she placed his luggage down by the door.

She almost glared at him as she straitened up, but managed a small smile to cover it up.

She could kill her family.

_Kagome had barely taken off her school shoes when her Mom and Akito had come out to greet her._

"_Kagome-chan, were you talking to someone? I thought I heard another voice."_

"_Oh, that? I was saying good-bye to my friends."_

"_A male friend?" Akito frowned at her in thought._

_Kagome shuddered, disgusted, at his grating voice. It tore her ear drums just to hear it._

"_Y—Yeah, his name is Hojo-kun . . ."_

"_Hm, shouldn't you talk to him about appropriateness?" he addressed the question to Kagome's Mom this time._

"_Huh? Oh, it's okay. He's very modest and shy. He wouldn't even call my daughter 'Kagome.' I'm not worried."_

"_Oh . . ." Akito's frown remained in place, however._

"_Kagome? Could I get you to help Akito to his room? His arms are bothering him and he needs some help to carry his baggage up."_

_Kagome inwardly snarled at the tainted man, but she mutely nodded in reply._

"_Great. Put him in the guest room."_

"_Th-the room by . . . _my_ room?"_

"_Uh-huh. Oh, I better get dinner out. It might burn." Her mom turned and quickly walked back to the kitchen._

_Akito turned his attention to the miko, "So, Kagome-_chan_, will you take me to my room?"_

_She clenched her jaw at how he said her name, but nodded jerkily, picked up his near-by bags, and led him upstairs._

'_I _hate _him!'_

Kagome seethed as she went into her room. Flopping on her bed, she clenched her fists. _'I should make a list of all the reasons why I should hate him.'_

She calmly inhaled and exhaled deeply a few times before she had calmed down enough to pull her book-bag up from the floor and open it to pull out her homework.

She had barely started her history paper when the phone rang and her head shot up.

'_Tohru . . .?'_

Deciding not to answer it, but to allow her mother to call her if it was, indeed, the expected call, she continued to write the answer to a homework question.

Kagome gently nibbled her lip as she wrote.

'_Just what _will _I do if Akito sees Inuyasha, even if it's by accident?'_

She decided not to answer that as her mother called her. "A friend's on the phone!"

"Okay, I got it!" she cried back as she picked up the portable phone that had been put in her room. "Hello?"

"Oh! Kagome-sama, how've you been?"

Kagome giggled at Tohru's enthusiasm. "Fine; you?"

"Wonderful! I was out gardening earlier. Sorry I didn't call . . ."

"It's okay."

"Good," she sounded incredibly relieved. "So, about the project . . . Where should we meet?"

Kagome paused before answering. "There's a park here by my house—"

"That sounds great!" Tohru cut in, totally ecstatic. "Could we meet in about twenty minutes; if it's no trouble, that is?"

"Oh . . ."

'_Just say yes_'_.'_

'_Bu t. . . Akito . . . Mama . . . dinner?'_

'_Screw that . . . are you hungry?'_

'_No . . .'_

'_Then use this as a chance to think about how to get Akito out of here.'_

'_Yeah . . . yeah! You're right . . .'_

'_Now go. Or you'll be late.'_

"Sure, Tohru, I'll be there."

"Great!" she squealed, and then hung up.

Kagome nodded as she slammed her text book shut and slid her question paper between the cover and first page.

She had gathered a small blue backpack of some different translating books—in case some things were difficult to understand, a small notebook for taking some miscellaneous notes, a ball pen, the copy of _Falling In_, and other odds and ends and headed toward her bedroom door.

Her head paused on the doorknob as she started to have some second thoughts. _'Okay . . . sure I don't care about Akito . . . But wouldn't mama be a bit upset if I'm not there for the first dinner of the week with Akito?' _

She remembered his smile—his creepy, haunting smile—and pulled the door open, rushed down the stairs, and practically ran out the door, through the lawn, and down the shrine stairs. She didn't slow her pace until she had reached the end of the block's sidewalk where a passing car honked at her for standing too close to the street.

'_Why did I run?'_

'_If you hadn't, then you wouldn't have gone to meet Tohru, you'd have stayed for your mother.'_

'_Shut-up. Just . . . shut-up.'_

Kagome inwardly growled as she crossed the street—surprisingly at a walking pace. She quickly glanced at her watch as she continued walking. Seven minutes. She would make it on time . . .

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

Tohru kneaded her lip as she pulled out her wristwatch—which was, for some reason, in her pocket.

Two minutes . . . Kagome was two minutes late . . .

Did something happen to her? Was she . . .?

"Tohru-san!"

Tohru whipped her head in the direction of the voice. A warm smile spread over her face like butter on hot toast. "Kagome-sama! You're alright."

Kagome slowed as she reached Tohru. "Of course I am." She giggled slightly at the silliness of Tohru's statement.

"Well, we had better start out project."

Kagome nodded in agreement. "Yeah."

They sat on a near-by picnic table and Kagome pulled out the book as well as the notebook that they had written the first part of the book in.

Kagome sighed. "Here comes the hard part—and the boring. Translating."

Tohru smiled. "I suppose . . . but we could always pretend that we're playing a game."

Kagome snapped her gaze in the younger girl's direction. "_What_?"

She shrugged. "You know: like pretend we're playing a game while we're actually translating."

"Uh . . ." Kagome blinked before hurriedly saying, "We had better not waste time, Tohru. My mother wants me back before dinner and that only in an hour or so."

"Of course."

"Right. So . . . '_A faint wind played with the curtains as he . . .played_'? Oh, wait no, _planned_. As he 'planned' his next move . . ."

Tohru merely giggled at how easy it was to confuse verbs.

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-33-3-**_

Only about twenty to thirty minutes had passed before Kagome sensed that they were not alone. Not at all. She could _feel_ the angry glare of golden eyes that belonged to a certain hanyou.

She did her best to concentrate on their work. Kagome and Tohru had taken turns reading and writing the translation. However, when Kagome allowed Tohru to read it—despite the fact that she did it pretty slow—Kagome could barely write and had to use all her self-control to keep from whirling around and 'sit'-ting Inuyasha into the other side of the world.

Kagome sighed and dropped her pen. "I'm sorry, Tohru, I just . . . can't concentrate . . ."

Tohru frowned at her. "Quite fine, Kagome-sama—"

"Tohru?"

"—I was starting to think that you were turning a little pale—"

"What did I tell you about the -sama thing?"

"—But then I though that maybe I was imagining it—"

"It make me feel old."

Tohru paused as she took in a deep breath to keep from fainting—since she had been blabbing without breathing—and turned curious eyes on her partner. "Kagome-sama? Did you say something?"

Kagome sighed in response. "Just . . . just don't call me -sama, okay?"

"Sure . . . you're fine, right?"

"Yeah, I—" a sudden thought hit her and she smiled thickly.

'_Inuyasha won't know what hit him when I'm done with him.'_

"—Yeah . . . I'm just glad that I'm . . . _sit_ting."—she paused and bit her lip gently to keep from giggling in pleasure as she heard a silent 'thud' from nearby—"If I hadn't been _sit_ting, I might have gotten a little light-headed. Yeah. . . it's nice to _sit_, isn't it?" For an extra measure, she chanted, "_Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit--_set. I like setting, too. Especially books on my desk after a long study . . . But not merely as much as I like to _sit_."

Tohru gave her a nervous smile. "Are you okay, Kagome-sa--- mean, Kagome . . . chan?"

The addressed girl nodded. "Uh-huh. And I feel . . . _loads_ better now . . . Guess I just had to get something out of my system." Kagome knew she should have stopped it there, but she had just a few seconds ago felt so agitated that she gave a little conclusion. "Now, let's _sit_ down and finish up this chapter, okay?"

Relieved, Tohru beamed brightly. "Of course!"

Kagome picked up her pencil and wrote some more . . . It did come easier now.

'_That was a punishment, Inuyasha. I didn't want you to follow me—you know that.'_

Still, her conscience seemed to chide her with guilty feelings.

'_I mean . . . he _should _know . . . I . . . I never allowed him to before . . .'_

She made a mental note to ask him if he was okay after she got home.

"Wait . . . Kagome-chan?"

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Tohru, just Kagome is fine; but, anyway, yeah?"

"Uh . . . In this sentence . . . This _un hure _. . . what does it mean?"

"_Un hure_? I don't think you're pronouncing it correct, here, let me see it."

"Okay."

Kagome took the book and began to tell Tohru about how to pronounce hours and the time.

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

"Wench . . ." a low voice growled the moment Kagome threw her book bag onto her bed.

Kagome peeked over through the corner of her eyes only to see a peeved hanyou sitting on the pane of the open window.

"Uh . . . hi."

"Hi, yourself." Delicately, he went from his sitting position to a crouch and leapt to the other side of the room to face the girl.

"Mind explaining what happened back there?"

Kagome blanched her features to look innocent. "Back where?"

"Don't play dumb—You _know _what."

Kagome swallowed and kept on with her act, shaking her head and sending him a curious look.

"Here's a hint: I didn't know you loved to 'sit' so much."

Kagome winced and realized that by doing so, she had showed she knew what he was talking about. Trying to sound convincing, she said, "You shouldn't have followed me."

"Keh! You didn't tell me where you were going, damn it!"

"Oh, now you've done it. So, you're my babysitter, now, are you? Here's a little tid-bit of information for you, baka, _I'm not a child or your property_!"

The hanyous ears flattened against his silvery he and he huffed. "Keh . . . Didn't say you were."

He jumped to the window and leapt to the ground, only to dart to the well-house.

Kagome sighed before burying her face in her hands.

'_Don't come back!'_

'_You don't mean that . . .'_

'_I know.'_

'_You hurt him.'_

'_I . . . No, I didn't. He's fine. Just fine.'_

Kagome leaned against her wall as her vision blurred in frustration, agony, and pain and she closed her eyes. _'Just fine.'_

_**-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-**_

_**Votes for Kagome:**_

**_Kyo: 5_**

**_Inuyasha: 1_**

**_Haru: 2 (Sorry, but this won't be, no matter what.)_**

_**Reminder: No matter how many votes one character may receive, my word is final. (So, Kyo may have well over a hundred votes while Inuyasha has ten, but I may pick Inuyasha, anyway. I don't know yet.)**_

**. . . I'm _so_ sorry! I didn't have much inspiration before to write more of this!**


	4. Morning Madness

_**-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-**_

Kagome stifled a sigh as she tried to finish her homework. Needless to say, she couldn't concentrate . . .

She gnawed her lower lip as she looked out the window.

'_Go back.'_

'_I can't.'_

'_Why?'_

'_I . . .'_

'_Stubborn wench.'_

A hint of a smile tugged at her lips before she sighed and her former frown deepened. _'Inuyasha . . . always told me that. . .'_

'_You hurt him.'_

'_I . . . what?'_

'_He was merely stating the facts and you denied him then shoved him out.'_

Kagome snorted. _'I did not, he left on his own!'_

'_Because you hurt him! Listen to me just once in your life! You told Inuyasha you didn't belong to him. But did you think for a second that maybe Inuyasha considers you as 'his'? Not literally, but as a friend? And if so, he was merely protecting you by asking where you were and why. For once, you need to think about his heritage.'_

'_Heritage?'_

'_He's hanyou.'_

Kagome's eyes widened as she remembered that. He _was_ hanyou, wasn't he? He _was_ different from humans, wasn't he?

"_Then I realized I had a place, but I was the only one in it."_

Inuyasha's words hit her hard. He told her that after they left Jenenji's village . . .

Inuyasha was hanyou—half human . . . and half demon—half inu youkai. And weren't dogs protective of what they considered theirs? Kagome could remember her neighbors' dog from when she was little. Every time she passed the house, the dog would bark ferociously at her—warning her to keep away from what was in his mind 'his'—his owners. Kagome remembered how many times Inuyasha had protected her, Miroku, and Sango from danger. Did he consider them 'his', too?

'_Go back,'_ her mind whispered.

Another tear slipped out as Kagome's heart clenched. Always she had loved him—always. _'I will,'_ she answered softly. _'I will.'_

_**-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-**_

Inuyasha leapt from the well and stormed around it for awhile.

'_Fine then!'_ he mentally snapped to Kagome. _'See if I care! I _won't_ go back and apologize—I won't!'_

But he knew as he fumed, that he couldn't go more than a day before seriously starting to miss the miko.

'_Why did she yell at me? I didn't do anything! Stupid wench . . . stupid, stupid wench . . .'_

He knew he was already starting to miss her.

_**-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-**_

Kagome bit her bottom lip as she tried to revise what she'd translated with Tohru. But a certain hanyou wouldn't leave her mind.

'_I'll go back tomorrow, when it's light out.'_

No matter how much she tried to tell herself that she _was_ going to go back, the gnawing feeling of guilt wouldn't let her have peace.

'_Tomorrow!'_ she cried to the person her guilt had formed into.

After a few more minutes, Kagome shoved her French paper back into her book bag along with the copy of the French book.

Deciding that she had to get up early tomorrow to apologize to Inuyasha, Kagome set her alarm for seven.

Finally, Kagome put on some pajamas, jumped into bed, and allowed sleep to cover her like a blanket covers a child.

_**-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-**_

The first thing that registered in Kagome's brain was the smell of a warm breakfast. The second was the warm sun that heated her face with its early-in-the-morning light.

The third . . . that it was late . . . very late.

Jumping up, Kagome glanced at the clock before suppressing a scream with her hand. 8:15.

Rolling out of bed, Kagome scrambled into her school uniform, brushed her hair, and put on her socks in record timing.

She grabbed her backpack and ran down the stairs, almost slipping on the polished floor in her socks.

"Mom!" she screeched as she narrowly missed running into the wall as she tried to turn the corner into the kitchen; "Why didn't—?" Everything she was going to say died on her tongue. "A . . . Ak—I mean, Sohma-san . . . what are you doing in the kitchen?"

Akito beamed over his shoulder—Kagome's stomach knotted at his weird smile—and simply said, "You mother wanted to get your grandfather some more arthritis medicine and I agreed to make breakfast. It seemed the best thing to do, considering . . ." he drifted off, allowing the obvious to fill up the rest of his sentence.

"Oh, right," Kagome said, smiling easily. One thought went through her head: _'Suck-up!'_

Akito put two eggs and toast on a plate before placing it on the table. "My specialty," he murmured to her, his dark eyes showing no emotions when he looked at her through his lashes.

"Oh . . . um, Sohma-san, why didn't Mom wake me up before she left?" Kagome asked as she stared down at her breakfast, deciding whether to eat it or throw it away when he wasn't looking.

Akito merely gave her another of his freaky grins. "I told her I would," he answered simply.

"Um . . . right. So . . . then—" _'Why didn't you wake me up, you sonuvabitch!' _"—why didn't you wake me up? I should've been up when my alarm went off."

"A growing girl needs her sleep and I wanted to give you all the sleep I could," he assured her, giving a friendly squeeze to her shoulder---squeezing a bit tighter than necessary.

Kagome's shoulder burned where he touched it. "But . . . I _wanted_ up that early. I had things to do."

Akito looked at her as though she had suddenly sprouted demonic wings. "Why would you need up that early?" His voice was curious, but there was a menace behind it.

"Uh . . ."

Akito gave her an easy smile as his bottomless eyes narrowed slightly. "That's what I thought," he said, sniffing before turning and making another batch of eggs—presumably for Souta or himself.

Kagome just had to take a peek over her shoulder to see her bare shoulder blades just to make sure she _hadn't_ sprouted any wings . . . the look Akito had given her really made her contemplate the possibility of it . . .

Almost without thinking, Kagome had started eating her breakfast, and by the time she realized what she was doing, she choked on it. She was going to throw it away when Akito had gone back to cooking.

She growled before reluctantly swallowing the last bite.

'_It's actually pretty good,'_ she mentally mumbled darkly.

She heard Souta come down the stairs and looked over to see him walk in the kitchen---undressed.

"Brat?" Kagome asked, using one of the many nicknames her little brother had accumulated over the years. "Why aren't you dressed?"

Souta rubbed his eye. "I dun' feel so good . . ." he mumbled sleepily.

"Maybe you're hungry," she suggested.

"I don't think so . . ." he yawned before assuring her, "I threw up in the bathroom."

Kagome made a face. "Eww! Why are you telling me this?"

Souta shrugged before slumping in his chair, head dropping on the table. "You were doubtful."

Kagome was about to retort when Akito turned around, plate of eggs in tow. "Ah, good, you're awake. Now what do you want—?" he abruptly cut himself off as Souta smelled the aroma from the food and went racing away—most likely to the nearest bathroom.

Akito gave Kagome a questioning glance. "What's wrong with him?"

"Sick," Kagome answered before standing, putting her plate in the sink and trailing her brother up the stairs.

She found—actually, heard—Souta in the bathroom. It didn't sound good.

Kagome gently nodded on the door. "Hey," she called softly. "You okay?"

She heard him give another heave before he answered. "Mm-mm-hmm-mmn," he grumbled.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Sorry, what was that?"

He didn't answer again, so Kagome slowly opened the door. She peaked in to see a clean toilet . . . unoccupied. Frowning, Kagome pushed the door open, looked around and gave a sharp breath.

Souta was lying sprawled on the ground, unconscious.

"Souta!" she urgently whispered. She shook him to see if he'd wake up, and when he didn't, she picked him up and started towards his room. She was half-way across the hall when she heard foot steps on the staircase. She picked up her speed and kicked open the door to Souta's room when she reached it. Racing over to his bed, she gingerly placed him on the bed before making her way back over top the door and closing it, making sure to press in the lock.

Kagome went back over and kneeled by her brother's bed. "Souta . . ." she murmured.

He groaned and rolled over.

Hesitantly, Kagome reached out and placed her hand to his forehead. She winced when she realized that he was burning up.

'_Souta . . .'_

There was a knock on the door. "Kagome-chan? Something wrong?"

Kagome's head snapped in the direction of the door. "Uh . . . no."

"Then can I come in?"

Kagome looked around for a thermometer. After a few seconds of searching, she found thee was none and her gaze returned to the door. "Um . . . no."

"And why not?"

"Uh . . ." Kagome blurted the first thing that popped into her head. "Lice."

". . . Lice?" Akito echoed dubiously.

"Yeah . . . very contagious; wouldn't want you to catch 'em."

There was a short pause before Akito registered this excuse as bogus. "Kagome-chan, you need to open this door _now_. You have to get ready for school and it's almost time to go."

Kagome glared at the door, knowing she _did_ have to go to school. "Hang on," she grumbled, wrapping her right arm over her brother and resting her cheek on the mattress beside his face. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Can I come in now?" Akito's tone was gentle, nut there was something in it that seemed to give a threat if she didn't comply.

"Um . . . no. I . . . uh, well, you see . . ." she thought of something to say, but her mind came up blank.

Akito sighed. Suddenly, his voice was oozing with a thick, sweet, purr-like maliciousness. "Kagome-chan, why don't you open up this door, hm? If you don't—"

"I'm home!" came the voice of Kagome's mother.

Kagome held her breath when she heard a light shuffling of feet outside the door, desperately hoping Akito would leave.

She was in luck. Soon after, she heard the gentle creak of the stair third from the top and knew he was headed down to greet her mother.

Taking advantage of that, Kagome slipped across the hall, into the bathroom and grabbed a thermometer before quietly making her way back, making sure to relock the bedroom door. Kagome didn't know why, but the thought of Akito being around someone sick—especially someone she cared about didn't suit well with her.

She put the tip of the electronic device under her brother's tongue and hit the power button. In only a few seconds, it beeped and Kagome took it out. She grimaced at the temperature it displayed before placing her hand on his forehead and grimacing again.

'_40 degrees . . . what does he have?'_

Souta groaned before fluttering his eyes open. "Sis?"

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Wh—What's wrong with me?"

Kagome looked away, a little ashamed of not knowing after so long of taking care of sick villagers from the feudal era. "Not sure," she mumbled, her cheeks pinkening.

Souta merely groaned again before rolling over. "I want Mama," he mumbled back.

Kagome nodded. "Okay, I'll go and get her." She had just stood up and hadn't even taken a step before there was a gentle knock at the door.

Kagome tensed, ready to start arguing with Akito, if need be.

"Kagome?"

Kagome's shoulders slumped with relief when she heard her mother's voice.

"Will you let me in, dear?"

Kagome blinked with confusion as to why her mother would be asking that before she remembered she had locked the door. "Oh . . . yeah, sorry," she muttered, embarrassed, as she walked over to the door and unlocked it, opening it and coming face-to-face with her mother.

"Kagome, dear, why did you lock the door in the first place?" Mrs. Higurashi asked as soon as the door was open.

"Oh . . . well . . . Souta's sick . . ."

Mrs. Higurashi's eyes widened slightly. "Oh," she murmured as she walked around Kagome and made her way over to her son's bed, kneeling by him, Kagome taking her place by her mother.

Souta looked over his shoulder at his mother. His pace was a light pink color and he didn't look good.

"Mama . . ." he quietly rasped. "I'm thirsty."

"Of course," she assured him before turning to talk to Kagome. 'Did you take his temp?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, it was 40."

Mrs. Higurashi winced before feeling Souta's forehead and sharply gasping. "High temp . . . _high_ temp. Kagome, help me get him to the tub."

Kagome nodded again before gently picking up her brother—who was pretty heavy—and—with some help from her mother—got him into the empty bath tub, clothes and all.

"Run the water, I'll get the ice," her mother instructed.

Kagome didn't reply, but turned the tap on, feeling the temperature of the water and adjusting it until it was icy cold.

Souta flinched away from it, groaning.

"C'mon, Souta, it's for your own good," she told him, slowing the water a bit.

Her mother came up with a small bag of ice and dumped it in. Needless to say, Souta didn't like that, either.

Kagome turned off the water, seeing how his flailing would flood the bathroom floors if she didn't.

"Souta, dunk your head," Mrs. Higurashi instructed gently.

"No," he moaned.

"Souta, if you don't, I'll have to."

He rolled over, grumbling darkly.

Mrs. Higurashi sighed. "Kagome, please hold his legs down."

"No!" Souta wailed, kicking his legs desperately, trying to avoid Kagome's hands.

"Souta, Souta, shhh, shhh . . . it's okay." Their mother stroked his cheek. "You need to clam down and before you know it, you'll feel all better."

Souta stopped struggling and opened his eyes to look at his mother. ". . . You promise?"

She smiled. "Yes, Souta, I promise."

Souta hesitated, still managing to keep Kagome from grabbing his legs. ". . . Fine . . . but only if I get to have some pocky later."

Mrs. Higurashi chuckled. "Of course, nothing but."

Souta beamed before closing his eyes, wrinkling his nose, and plummeting his head down so hard, it whacked the bottom.

Kagome's little brother surfaced with a mess of bubbles and a lot of sputtering. "Ow," he whined rubbing the back of his head.

Kagome stuck out her tongue. "Brat, you're the one that did it."

Souta pouted, crossing his arms. "Meany . . . Mama, I want my pocky now."

Mrs. Higurashi chuckled. "Kagome, will you get me a few towels?"

Kagome stood and turned, pulling several towels off the door and handed them to her mother with a, "Here."

Mrs. Higurashi nodded, taking the towels, pulling the plug to the tub to let the water drain out, and told Souta to stand up so she could wrap him in towels.

Souta did so obediently, happy now that his body was cooler.

Mrs. Higurashi was toweling Souta down when she turned to look at Kagome for a few seconds before returning her full attention to Souta. "You're still going to school," she informed the miko. "And you're going to be on time, so I suggest you get on your way."

Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but her mother gave her a stern look. "No arguments. You're going to go to school as many days as you can since you're on the other side so often and for so long."

Kagome bit her tongue, swallowing the retort that wanted to escape. "Fine," she sighed, knowing her mother was right on this one. "I'll see you this afternoon."

Her mother nodded her good-bye as Kagome left the bathroom and went to her room to get her book bag and quickly raced down the stairs and to the front door to get her shoes on.

Kagome took a deep breath before opening the door and calling over her shoulder, "I'm leaving!" She didn't think anyone was going to reply, but she did so anyway.

She was surprised when someone _did_ reply.

"Wait a second!" Akito's voice drifted to her.

Kagome froze, holding her breath, as she rapidly thought. _'Wait, what does he want? Oh, he probably wants to yell at me, or something.'_

Kagome looked over at the clock to see that she only had a couple minutes to get to school.

She had no intention of staying here, listening to Akito—who she wasn't happy with at the moment—scold and rant at her for who knew how long.

Kagome did the one thing almost any teen would have done.

She ran.

She started to run to school, planning to pretend not to have heard Akito tell her to wait if he mentioned it to her that afternoon.

_**-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-**_

"Kagome-chan, you don't look so good," Tohru commented as Kagome dragged herself into the class room.

Kagome smiled easily. 'I'm okay, it's just that my brother's sick."

Tohru gave her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry. It's scary, isn't it?"

Kagome nodded. "Yeah, especially since he's _really_ sick."

The brunette gave a reassuring smile. "He'll be fine, I'm sure."

The miko sighed and looked down at her textbooks glumly. "Maybe . . ."

Kagome was surprised when she felt a warm hand grab hers and pulled her up to make her stand.

"Tohru—?"

The girl smiled. "You shouldn't be so down. Everything turns out all right in the end. No matter what. Silver lining."

Kagome stared at the girl who had no doubt forgotten her mind and sanity somewhere in her sock drawer that morning.

'_Silver lining? _What_ good could possibly come from this?'_

"Um . . . sure," Kagome agreed, prying Tohru's hand off hers. "If you say so."

The other girl nodding, beaming. "Everything always turns out okay, even if it goes to hell first."

Kagome gave Tohru a look. "You don't say?"

She nodded. "Yep."

The bell rang and the teacher looked up from her desk. "All right, class. Take a seat. Now then, _Bonjour_!"

"_Bonjour_," the class answered, dead to the world.

The teacher gave them a calculating look. "I know you can do better than that. Come on now. _Bonjour_! Come on, now. You don't want to be piled with homework, do you?"

There were a few gasps before the class all exclaimed, "_Bonjour!_"

The teacher smiled. "Much better."

Kagome mentally snorted. _'Silver lining? _Yeah, _ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight.'_

_**-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-**_

**_40 degrees Celsius: Approx. 104 degrees Fahrenheit_**

_**Votes for Kagome:**_

**_Kyo: 17_**

**_Inuyasha: 14_**

**_Haru: 2 (Sorry, but this won't be, no matter what.)_**

_**Reminder: No matter how many votes one character may receive, my word is final. (So, Kyo may have well over a hundred votes while Inuyasha has ten, but I may pick Inuyasha, anyway. I don't know yet.)**_


	5. Uncomfortable Circumstance

**_-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-_**

Kagome barely heard a word of any of her lessons that day. The only thought that was going through her head was Souta.

_'He doesn't usually get sick,'_ she told herself as she tried to force down her lunch. _'He's really strong, compared to me, especially. I think he got sick only once before, and that was a cold . . . He didn't even have a fever, though . . .' _Kagome made a face. _'Yeah, but _me_, however . . . I'm outside in the cold for more than five minutes and I'm sniffling and sneezing away . . .' _

Shaking her head, Kagome brought herself back to the present. _'Come on, girl, keep it together, he'll get over it!' _But all day, every time she tried to think of Souta, her brain automatically panicked since her brother was usually so healthy and strong. Though she knew it wasn't likely, she couldn't help but worry that maybe it was a lethal illness he had.

'_Stop it,' _she scolded herself, her hands trembling as she pushed away her lunch. _'He will _not_ die . . . he probably has a cold . . . a cold where he throws up, but a cold, nonetheless . . .'_ Kagome racked her brain for any time where a friend, relative, or acquaintance had something like this, but she came up with nothing. _'Wait,'_ she thought slowly, as if it was totally obvious, _'a cold wouldn't make you throw up . . . In fact, throwing up is one of the signs that you _don't_ have a cold . . .' _Instantly, her brain was again went on a frenzy, listing all the possible maladies that Souta could have gotten. _'What if he has measles? You get a fever and throw up with measles, right? Or chicken pox! Wait . . . no, he got vaccinated for that, and, anyway, that doesn't make you get terribly sick—just itchy. What if he got the flu! Oh, no. I heard that people die from the flu. That there's no cure or vaccine and—'_ Her mind froze as she rethought that. _'Oh. Oh, wait. No, that was in the past, about a hundred years ago . . . there's a vaccine for it now, and a cure.'_

Kagome's brain continued like that for several long moments. Images of germs torturing her brother filled her mind and by the time Tohru sat down by Kagome, she was incredibly pale.

"Um . . . Kagome-chan, are you okay?" Tohru timidly asked. "You look a little pale."

Kagome managed to give a half smile. "I'm . . . okay."

Tohru shook her head. "You don't look too good . . . maybe you should see the nurse."

At the mention of a nurse, Kagome couldn't help but think of her sick brother. She groaned as she placed her head on her arms.

Tohru panicked. "Oh!" she squeaked, surprised, "I—I didn't mean to do anything to offend you, Kagome-chan!" She kept on babbling apologies until Kagome looked up.

"No, it's not you," Kagome assured Tohru.

Tohru stopped mid-apology and gave Kagome a long, confused look. Finally, after the long pause, Tohru's eyes brightened with realization. "Oh, your brother, right? Is that what this is about? Is that why you won't eat? Because your brother's sick?"

Kagome merely sighed as an answer.

Tohru sighed in reply. "Kagome-chan . . . I'm sure he'll get better—in fact, I'm sure he will."

"But . . . But . . . But he _never _gets sick! This is the first time he's gotten this ill . . . I have a bad feeling about it, too. Like it's . . . it's . . . I don't know . . . a curse placed upon him or something."

Tohru's eyes widened. "A curse?" she echoed in a whispered.

Kagome nodded gravely and swallowed. "Yeah."

Tohru paled and her eyes, if possible, widened even more. "A curse—that's awful—how could—a curse—that's impossible—why would—" she sputtered.

Kagome couldn't help but giggle at the reaction that triggered. "No, no, I s'pose it's not a . . . _curse_ . . . but, it does look serious."

Tohru immediately calmed.

"I mean, he looks so pitiful . . . I can't do anything for him . . . that's what gets me down the most . . . I should be able to do _something_, I a priestess for Pete's sake!" Kagome's voice carried raw emotions of hurt, frustration, anger, and fear.

Tohru stifled a gasp. "You're a—a—a _priestess_?!" Her voice had nothing but awe.

Kagome sniffed. "In training . . . but my training is almost complete! And I should be able to help cure any ailments that people get . . . That includes whatever my brother has . . ."

Tohru smiled. "Think of it this way: there are many ailmo—ailmi—ailmy—allme—ailmu—"

Kagome stifled a laugh. "Ailments?"

"Yeah, there are a lot of those that have no cure and there are even more that we haven't even discovered yet. You shouldn't expect to know all the . . . the sicknesses, because there are some that _no one_ knows about, which means that there isn't yet a cure to it—because no one knows it_ exists_." Seeing that Kagome was staring to perk up a little bit, she continued, "In fact, your little brother may have one of those that no one knows about."

A look of outright horror crossed the miko's features. "But—But—then, that means, that there's no cure—"

Tohru interrupted her. "No! I'm sure he just has the flu, or something. I'm sure it'll be gone by tomorrow."

"But . . . he got a shot for the flu." Kagome blinked. "I . . . _think_."

"So . . . you're not sure?"

"Uh . . . I thought he did . . ."

Tohru shook her head. "Well, rather than worry about nothing, just comfort yourself with the thought that he's strong and that he'll be better before you know it. I'll bet by the time you get home, he'll be up and running again."

Tohru's optimism rubbed off on Kagome and soon she was smiling again. "Yeah! I'm sure he'll be better. He will get better—he has a date tomorrow with his girlfriend." Kagome gave Tohru a wink before realizing what time it was.

"Oh, shoot! I better get going; it takes me awhile to get to my classes anymore, and I really don't want to make a bad impression my first week here."

Tohru brightly waved as Kagome left. "Yeah, sure—oh, wait! Kagome! Where are we going to meet for our project today?"

Kagome turned and considered that. "Um . . . is it okay if it's at your place?"

Tohru beamed and, continuing her wave, called, "Sure, that'll be fine," warmly.

Kagome smiled goodbye and turned only to bump into someone. She landed with a thump on her bottom and winced. "Ow," she groaned.

Looking over, she saw just who she had bumped into.

"O—Oh!" Jumping to her feet, Kagome wobbled before gaining her balance. "I—I'm sorry," she told the person on the ground—Kyo Sohma—extending her hand to help him up. "I really should have been looking and paying attention to where I was going."

Kyo looked at her hand for a moment, hesitated, and then stood on his own, deciding to ignore it.

"Uh-huh," he grunted, regaining his own balance. "Uh . . . no, wait, I mean . . ." Kyo paused before shaking his head, looking disgusted with something. "Whatever." He brushed by her, continuing on his way as he trekked over to sit at a nearby table.

"Uh . . . _right_." _'Talk about rude,'_ she told herself as she turned—not bumping into anyone this time—and went to the hallway before turning and heading for her locker.

_**-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-**_

Kagome gave a sigh of relief as the final bell rang. _'Finally!'_

She was proud of herself. She had managed not to think of Souta once since lunch—up until now.

But now that she had thought of him, she couldn't help but start to worry all over again. She could see many mental images of her brother sick in bed—dying in the images—and all she could do was stand there and watch it. There was nothing she could do. She wasn't sure what he had since she was sure he had gotten his flu shot—actually, all his shots were up-to-date, so he shouldn't be getting anything . . . except _maybe _a cold.

'_But it's not a cold he has,'_ she told herself again for the umpteenth time as she filed out of the room with her classmates.

'_No,' _she scolded herself. _'Stop it. You know he'll most likely be fine—this is _Souta _we're talking about here.'_

Still, there was a gnawing feeling that there was something . . . unnatural about her brother's condition, and she was determined to figure out what it was and correct it . . . even if it killed her.

Kagome rolled her eyes. "That sounds cliché," she mumbled to herself as she unlocked her locker.

"What does?" a voice behind her asked.

Kagome jumped and turned, a hand pressed over her heart. Her locker, which she had been in the middle of opening, slammed open loudly.

"Oh . . . Kyo-san . . . you surprised me," she managed as she tried to calm her beating heart.

Kyo readjusted his book bag and stared at her for a long moment before he asked, "Well, what sounds cliché?"

It was Kagome's turn to stare this time. Her azure eyes met his, and she was struck by their color. _'I never realized they were like that . . . they look orange. But that's impossible. His eyes can't be orange.' _But a flash of amber went through her mind and she remembered Inuyasha's unusual eye color. _Yeah, gold—or amber, depending on hoe you look at it—isn't exactly a "possible" eye color either . . .'_

And then she saw a hint of amusement in his eyes . . . and a bit of curiousness . . . and even a little hope.

'_Hope? Why would he be hopeful?'_ Kagome mulled that for a second before searching his eyes again. _'Like soul-searching,'_ she joked to herself.

She must have been silent for too long because Kyo shook his head and turned. Kagome opened her mouth to protest when he looked over his shoulder and said a good bye. The miko froze as she saw his eyes in her mind—the eyes that had been directed at her as he walked away. There were many emotions hidden in their molten depths. Some Kyo probably knew he was experiencing, like he probably knew he was pissed. But some were hidden down deeper . . . some emotions he was hiding, even from himself . . . He was afraid . . . lonely . . . hurt . . . anxious . . . sad . . . and even . . .

Kagome shook her head. She was looking too far into this. _'I'm not a therapist,' _she reminded herself, _'I'm a miko.'_

But . . .

As she walked away, she couldn't get a pair of shockingly orange eyes out of her mind.

Nor could she not finish her train of thought from before.

He even looked a little . . .

A little . . .

Closing her eyes, Kagome sighed.

'_Tired . . . Tired of . . .'_ Looking for the right word, Kagome bit her lip as she slowly traveled home.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, she finally made up her mind. _'Tired of being abandoned . . . of being rejected . . . tired of this hopeless life . . . tired of feeling unloved.'_

_**-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-**_

Kagome kicked off her shoes and walked up to her room, dropped her book bag, and went to her brother's room. Knocking on the door, Kagome entered and saw that Souta was asleep.

Hope flooded Kagome and she sat on the edge of Souta's bed, looking down at him, a hint of a smile on her face. _'He's better. He's really, truly better.'_

She sighed in relief and sat on his bed for a few more minutes. After a while, she heard someone call her from downstairs. Apparently, Souta did, too. He stirred in his sleep and fluttered his eyes open. Dazed, he used his arms to push himself up as he look around to get his bearings.

"Sis?" he mumbled.

"Hmm?"

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Souta yawned. "How was school?"

"Oh, it was . . . good."

"Really?"

"Yep. Hey, squirt, how're you feeling?"

"Nn," Souta groaned in reply, flopping back down on his bed. "Not so good."

Kagome couldn't help but look crestfallen for a second. Souta looked in her direction, not bothering to get back up, and the miko hastily replaced that expression with a warm smile. "By tomorrow you'll be up and at 'em, right?"

Souta closed his eyes and mumbled, "Mm, sure, if you say so . . ."

Kagome swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and managed to reply in an enthusiastic tone, "You'll be eating those words tomorrow, I bet."

"Mm," he replied, rolling over and snuggling down into his bed.

"Kagome!" came another call from downstairs.

Kagome swallowed, looked at her brother one last time, and then got up and left the room, shutting the door firmly behind her, before padding down the staircase.

"Yes?" Kagome answered, expecting her mother to bustle out and tell her that she needed to do some house chores or something.

So she was totally surprised when Akito came out, in an apron and bearing one of the most annoying looking smiles—and cold and freaky looking, not to mention.

Schooling her features so that she didn't show much emotion, Kagome answered as politely as she could. "Yes, Akito-sama"—she tried not to cringe at the –sama and barely managed before continuing—"what is it that you need?"

"Dinner should be ready soon . . . oh, and you have a phone call."

Kagome didn't miss the way his eyes flicked over her in a suspicious way when he mentioned the phone call. "Is that all?"

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, then . . . Um, Akito-sama . . . where is my mother? And my grandfather, too?"

Akito gave a sympathetic smile that had a hard, stony look to it. "You're grandfather fell ill right after you left for school, and your mother has taken him to the hospital. She called a little while ago. She's there right now as we speak."

"Oh?"

"Yes."

There was a pause and Kagome saw the way Akito's eyes flicked up—towards Souta's room directly above them—before returning to Kagome. He was about to speak when Kagome interrupted. "Well, I better get on that phone call, hadn't I?"

Kagome passed around Akito to get to the phone and she almost—_almost_—missed the look of pure hatred, anger, frustration, and cold maliciousness that crossed his features as she brushed passed him.

But she didn't.

She almost turned around and demanded what was to hate, and why he was so weird, and maybe even why his aura seemed tainted, but she controlled herself enough to keep herself from doing so. Instead, she kept on going and went to the cordless phone that Akito had left on the counter.

"Hello?"

"Oh! Hello, Kagome-chan."

Kagome smiled at the familiar voice. "What's up?"

"I'm calling about that project."

Kagome grimaced. "Ah . . . _that_."

Tohru laughed. "Yeah. When are you free tonight?"

"Um . . ." Kagome thought about that for a second. She wasn't sure how long her mother was going to be away . . . and she didn't plan on staying too long in the same building as Akito when she didn't need to be . . . "Anytime, really."

"Really? Even now?"

Kagome mulled for a second over what Akito had told her—dinner would be ready in a little bit. He didn't specify when _s little bit _was, so . . . "Yeah, even now."

"Oh, good," Tohru sounded relieved. "Have you eaten yet?"

"Uh . . ."

" 'Cause I was going to invite you over for dinner if you hadn't . . . and if it's okay with your parents."

"Hmm . . ." Kagome's eyes flicked over to the kitchen area. She could say she had a project to do and that it direly needed to get done . . . _'Why should I have to explain things to _him_?'_ "yeah, I can do that," she finally answered.

"Good, then I'll get everything ready, okay?" Kagome could hear the heart-felt smile that Tohru undoubtedly was beaming right now.

"Sure."

"Then come over as soon as you can and we'll get started."

"Of course."

"Okay then, bye!" Even saying such a sad thing as good-bye, Tohru sounded cheerful, and for some reason it broke her heart. _'Because I have to good-bye to the Feudal Era soon . . .' _she reminded herself.

"Yeah, bye," Kagome replied, trying to match Tohru's enthusiasm.

She sounded dejected to herself.

There was a click and then the line went dead. Forcing herself to stay on the positive side, Kagome walked over to the receiver and placed the phone on it.

For some reason, when she thought of the Feudal Era, she felt like she was forgetting something, and something that was pretty important.

After several long moments of pondering, Kagome shrugged and went to find Akito.

He was in the kitchen.

And he was laughing.

He looked weird when he was laughing, and he was laughing pretty darn _hard_. Swallowing, Kagome called out to him. "Akito-sama?"

He looked up and immediately he was calm again, which just freaked Kagome out.

"Yes?" he answered and the way he said it, no one would have ever guessed he had just been laughing like the world's funniest joke had been cracked right there in front of him.

"Um . . ." Kagome was preparing to ask him if she could go to Tohru's when he interrupted her.

"Who was that on the phone?"

"Oh, just a friend."

"What's her name?"

"Um . . ." Kagome faltered as Akito slowly advanced on her, like a tiger does its prey. "Um . . ." she tried again. "It was . . . it was . . ." But she never got to who it was, because Akito was _way_ too close for comfort. When he wanted to, he could move _fast_, and that really unnerved her. He was barely an arms-length away now.

"A friend from school," she forced herself to say.

"That wasn't my question," he said a bit coldly and kept advancing.

Kagome would he was about three inches away then. She started backpedaling. Fast.

The only down thing about that was that the wall was only about five feet behind her. And Akito was covering as much distance coming towards her as she was back pedaling.

When her back touched the cursed, hard wall, Kagome swallowed. Akito was once again only about three inches away. Not good. There seemed to be no space between them, then. And Kagome was going to scream if his lips touched hers, or if anything at all touched her that belonged to him. Akito used a hand to brace himself against the wall and Kagome couldn't help but notice how healthy he looked. Before he had looked a little pale, but now he looked a lot healthier and pinker.

She tensed when she realized that Akito's lips seemed to be barely a millimeter away. Any movement of any sort would brush hers against his. Kagome prepared herself to scream.

Then the front door opened. They both tensed—Akito more so than Kagome.

"Kagome? Akito?" Kagome almost melted with relief at her mother's voice.

Akito seemed to jump twenty meters in a second as her mother searched the rooms, and after awhile, finally finding them.

"Ah, there you guys are. Why, Kagome what's wrong you look like you've seen a ghost?"

Kagome didn't miss a beat but asked, "May I go to a friend's house right now?"

Her mother looked taken aback for a second before asking, "Did you have dinner yet?"

"She invited me for dinner."

Her mother thought about that for a second. "I don't see why not."

Kagome smiled. "Thanks."

Mrs. Higurashi returned the smile. "Where does this friend of yours live?"

Kagome thought about that for a second. "Near . . ." she drifted off as she rethought that. _'Wait a second . . .'_ Eyes widening, Kagome realized she didn't know where Tohru lived, exactly. "Um . . . I'll have to call her and ask," she admitted. "I'm not sure."

Mrs. Higurashi hid a giggle at her daughter's face. "Sure," was her simple reply.

Kagome sighed before making her way to the phone, making a deliberate attempt to not meet Akito's eyes as she passed by him or get within ten feet of him.

So she was surprised when a thin, bony and yet strong hand grabbed her right arm in a tight grip.

Stifling a wave of anger and the desire to throttle him, Kagome turned to Akito. "Yes?" she asked, trying to be polite and making a good attempt of forgetting the earlier scene.

"Who is this friend of yours, I wonder, Kagome-chan?" Though there was no actual stress on –chan, Kagome could feel the mock behind the way he said it.

"A friend from school," she bit out, trying not to sound too cold since her mother was within earshot. With that, she twisted her arm out of Akito's grip and continued to the phone.

Picking up the receiver, Kagome flopped onto a nearby chair and carefully dialed the number that she had made herself memorize. Some one picked up on the second ring.

That someone was Kyo.

"I said I have it!" he snapped to someone else.

There was a muffled reply—that sounded to be said in the same tone, but Kagome couldn't tell through the phone—before Kyo snapped again. "I'm not dependent on others like _you_, ya damn—"

"Um . . . hello?" Kagome cut in, not wanting to hear the rest of that sentence.

There was a pause as the phone shuffled—probably from one ear to the other—before Kyo replied. "Yeah . . . um, it's . . ." he paused as he thought of a title. "Higurashi-san?" by the way he said it, Kagome knew that he remembered her, but was merely wondering how he should address her.

Kagome shook her head. "Kagome will do," she informed him.

"Oh . . . okay then, Kagome, hello." She could have imagined it, but Kagome was sure he sounded a bit relieved at not having to use titles.

"Um, is Tohru there?"

"Oh, yeah, just a sec." There was a pause, some more muffled voices—calmer ones this time—before she heard the brought voice of Tohru.

"Hello?"

"Oh, Tohru!"

"Kagome-chan!"

"Um . . . I have a problem."

"What?"

Kagome told Tohru about her dilemma and Tohru answered with directions to her home.

"It doesn't take too long to get out here," she finished.

"Oh, good. Then I'll see you in about . . . fifteen minutes?"

"Sounds good!"

"Okay then, bye!"

"Bye!"

Kagome put the receiver back down on the charger, turned, and went to the door, putting her shoes on as she went by.

She knew she hadn't even bothered changing, but she was eager to get out of the house, so she decided to leave as she was.

No one cared how she looked, anyway.

_**-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-**_

_**Votes for Kagome:**_

_**Kyo: 47 **_

_**Inuyasha: 28 **_

_**Haru: 4 (Sorry, but this won't be, no matter what.)**_

_**Akito: 1 (Um, not gonna happen, but I'll put it up, anyway)**_

_**Ayame: 1 ( . . .Ooooookay . . .)**_

**Booyah! Chapter 5: complete. **

**I know it was left off at a . . . weird spot, but I had to stop there, or I NEVER would have. Oh, and the pole for Kagome will close when I post the next chapter (chapter 6), so get some last votes in (Inuyasha's now in the dust . . .!)! Oh, and I FINALLY got the 15th book of the Fruits Basket series . . . It's really good (and funny, as always)!**


	6. Flying Shirts

_**-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-**_

Kagome stopped short on the porch and leaned forward, ear cocked slightly.

"—_No!_ I did _not_—" came an angry voice, slightly muffled.

"I really don't see why you're making a big deal about thi—" someone started, voice just as muffled.

"Because you're _blaming_ me for something I _didn't_ do!" the angry voice—Kyo, she could now tell it was him—retorted.

"I didn't do anything," the other person—most likely Yuki—coolly and calmly replied. "And I never blamed you of doing anythin­—"

"Yes, you did!" Kyo spat.

"Um, Kyo," a gentle voice interrupted.

There was a short silence and Kagome could almost picture Kyo whirling to face her. The miko's hands balled when she remembered people did rash things in moments of intense rage. If Kyo did anything to hurt Tohru in his current state of mind, he was going to pay . . .

She was surprised when she heard him speak. "Tohru," he said softly, tone gentle.

"I—um—hope it's not a bother—I know I should have told you sooner, and I was going to, but . . ."

"Just spit it out," Kyo prodded, confused as to what she was talking about.

"I-invited-someone-over-is-that-too-much-trouble-because-I-know-should-have-told-you-but-I-didn't-think—" Tohru blurted, words jumbling out one after another, sounding like one huge, giant, monster-of-a-word.

It was Yuki who interrupted her. "That'll be fine," he warmly assured her. "So long as we're careful not to let _it_ slip, which means no close contact with us."

'_What?_' Kagome wondered, thoroughly confused as to what they were talking about.

"Oh, good," she sighed, sounding greatly relieved. "I know Kagome-chan won't be a bother and I can keep her from finding out about—"

"Wait," Kyo abruptly cut in. "This guest of yours is _Kagome_? Kagome _Higurashi_?"

Momentarily, Kagome wasn't sure if she should be complimented that he sounded slightly excited or insulted that he also sounded alarmed and not all for the idea.

"Yeah, Kagome-chan's coming over soon—Kyo, do you know Kagome-chan?"

"Of course I _know_ her, you introduced us," Kyo replied testily. "And then I bumped into her in the hall—and—why are you asking?"

Yuki was the next to comment, and from his tone, Kagome guessed that the words merely slipped out; they couldn't be contained no matter how much Yuki might've fought with himself to keep his thoughts to himself. "Kyo—are you—" there was a pause and Kagome thought Yuki must've stopped to try and stifle a small laugh. "Are you blushing?" he finally finished. "There's to be _embarrassed_ about."

"Kyo?" Tohru chimed in, curiosity laced in her tone. "Do you have a fever? You do look a little pink—"

"_Red_, more like," Yuki commented.

"—is there anything wron­g—?" Tohru continued.

"There is _nothing_ wrong!" Kyo thundered. "And I am _not_ blushing. The heat is awful, is all."

"In an air-conditioned room," came the calm even-toned retort from Yuki.

"It's not—I just—She's just—I—_I'm going to bed!_ And I don't want anyone to interrupt me!" he snapped, his voice getting fainter and fainter as he most likely traveled in the direction of his room.

There was a silence and Kagome imagined Tohru and Yuki staring after him as he disappeared. She heard a loud _slam!_ and knew Kyo had reached his destination. The silence inside continued.

It was then that Kagome decided to make an entrance. She stepped up to the door and knocked lightly. There was a two second pause as Tohru and Yuki most likely whipped their heads in the direction of the door.

"Oh!" Tohru happily exclaimed. "That must be Kagome-chan now."

Kagome heard the ecstatic girl advance towards the door and open it. Kagome smiled when she saw Tohru's grinning face. "Hey," she greeted.

"Kagome-chan! Please, come in," Tohru latched on to her hand and gently yanked her inside, closing the door with her foot when the miko was through. "Kagome-chan, I already introduced you to Yuki-kun, but in case you forgot who he was, this is Yuki-kun," Tohru told her, gesturing to the silver-haired boy on the couch inside.

"Hey, Sohma-san," Kagome greeted.

"Higurashi-sa—"

"No," Kagome firmly interrupted, causing Yuki to give her a bewildered look. "It's not Higurashi. It's _Kagome_. First names were made to be used."

Yuki gave her an amused sort of half-smile. "Then you can call me Yuki—"

"No," Kagome interrupted firmly again. Yuki gave her another look. "I'll call you Sohma-_kun_. That's the best I'll do." There was no one who ever said she was good with boys and comfortable about them . . .

Yuki blinked at her, thoroughly confused, before shaking his head. "Whatever floats your boat," he replied slowly.

"Okay," she easily agreed before whirling to face Tohru. "I have my copy of _Falling In_. Are you ready to start?"

Tohru nodded. "Let me just check in on dinner and then I'll be right with you. Just stay here a sec, okay?"

Kagome shrugged easily. "Sure."

Tohru left the room and Kagome stood with her book clutched in her hand. She was feeling rather awkward when she heard Yuki speak. "You can sit down, Kagome-san."

She whirled and her cheeks pinkened as she remembered he was there and most likely staring at her. "Oh, um . . . Sure," she replied, not wanting to appear rude. She made her way over to the larger couch and sat on the very edge opposite the silvery-haired boy. She crossed her legs and stared at her calves for a second before she felt a slight shift in the cushion beneath her.

Kagome's bottom lip nearly trembled as she turned to see Yuki, hand bracing his weight on the cushion, leaning towards her with curiosity. "Kagome . . . Are you sure you're alright? You seem flush—"

"I'm fine," Kagome instantly replied, cutting him off and nearly leaping back three feet, almost off the couch. "I just—I just—I merely—" '_I can't stand being so close to guys!_' "I—"

"Alright!" came a bright and cheery voice as the person came out of the kitchen. "We have some time before dinner, so we should be able to get a lot ofwork done . . . before . . . we . . . eat," Tohru finished, the last three words slowly fading as she stared in confusion at the two on the couch who were in what _could_ be taken as a suggestive pose—with Yuki leaning towards Kagome and Kagome a dark red. But, Tohru being Tohru, she came to another conclusion. "Erm . . . Yuki-kun. Please . . . please forgive me if I'm wrong, but . . . are you _harassing_ Kagome-chan?" Tohru's eyes were wide with surprise beyond her wildest dreams. Yuki-kun . . . _Yuki-kun_, the one who _never_ showed a sign of interest in anybody, was suddenly _harassing_ her new friend?

Did he have a fever?

Yuki, in response, turned to a shade that threatened Kagome's. "N—No!" he automatically denied. "I was just worried about her! She looks a little sick—like you do when you overexert yourself."

In response, Tohru gave a small sigh of relief then smiled. "That makes more sense. But Kagome-chan . . . You know, I think Yuki-kun might be right . . . You look a light red."

"Eh-heh-heh . . . Yeah, I bet I do! It's fine! I just—erm—am a little hot. It's a little toasty down here from all the cooking. So do you mind if we go upstairs?" The awkward situation did _not_ bode well at all with the miko. She eagerly jumped up from the couch and stood by Tohru, shifting her weight from one foot to the other while nervously playing with her notebook.

"Oh, sure, Kagome-chan, we can go to my room," Tohru told her, smiling reassuringly. "This way," she said aloud, taking Kagome's hand and pulling her along. She was led up the stairs and partway down one of the halls. "Here it is," Tohru finally announced, pushing the door open.

"Oh, it's nice!" Kagome complimented as she walked in. "I like it—it's homey! But . . . Tohru . . . You don't have anything on your walls. Usually people would hang posters or something. Why don't you have anything like that?"

Tohru shook her head, smiling gently. "No. Oh, we better start!" The optimistic girl sat on her bed and patted the mattress next to her. "We'll have to get started right away."

Kagome frowned. '_No_' wasn't an answer to her question. After a few seconds, however, she shrugged it off and joined Tohru.

"Okay, so you have the book?"

"Mm-hmm!"

"And I have the notepad, so here we go!" Kagome paused for a concentrated sigh. "Alright! We left off right after chapter eight."

Tohru nodded and flipped the book open, a serious expression on her face.

_**-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-**_

Kagome cocked her head as she looked down at the book. They had managed to translate another chapter and a half and had paused to gloat over themselves. "Fantastic!" Kagome finally exclaimed, looking up to beam at Tohru.

Tohru nodded, the smallest hint of a blush tingeing her cheeks at the compliment. "Kagome-chan is too kind! You were the one who translated most of it!"

Kagome shook her head. "You know that's not true. Tohru, you did a lot of work, too." Seeing that Tohru was ready to protest further, Kagome suddenly broke in. "Ah! Excuse me, Tohru-chan, I'm really thirsty. So you mind if I get a drink?"

"Oh!" The other jumped to her feet. "I'm so sorry, Kagome-chan. I've been so rude to you—"

Kagome nearly laughed. "Nonsense," she chided, also standing up and pushing the other girl back down. "I am perfectly capable of doing it myself." By this time, the miko was near the door. "This is . . . If you don't mind me helping myself when I'm at _your_ house? I'm probably the one seeming rude."

Tohru vigorously shook her head. "No! Feel free to help yourself."

Kagome nodded and left. About four or five steps out of the room, she stopped suddenly and turned. "Oh, do you also want something?" she called back to Tohru.

"Do you . . . mind getting me something? Whatever you pick up is fine." The answer was slightly muffled from the fact that they were in separate rooms.

"Sure!" she called, her tone making it obvious she didn't mind at all.

With that, Kagome made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen to explore for something to drink. She opened the fridge and found some sodas. She grabbed one for herself and then hesitated. There were three different kinds . . . While Tohru said she didn't mind what she was given, Kagome didn't want to grab something Tohru didn't like. The poor girl would drink it so she wouldn't make the miko feel bad or guilty, regardless of her like or dislike of it.

After hesitating a second longer, she decided to grab one of the other flavors and decided to let Tohru pick the one she wanted, that way, it was a win-win situation.

Loaded with the goods, Kagome climbed back up the stairs. She was walking down the hallway when one of the doors opened and a yawning Kyo came out. And it was then that Kagome once again collided into him. They crashed to the ground and the moment the miko's knees made impact with the floor, she fell forward. She winced and moaned. Kyo moaned, too. Kagome went to apologize—for crashing into him _yet again_—when she realized that the moan had come from beneath her and that she was laying on something warm and soft—skin.. Blinking, she looked down only to see that she was sitting on his stomach. She squeaked and jumped to her feet. "I'm—I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, turning a deep red. "So, so, so, so sorry!"

She helped him up. "S'okay," he mumbled as Kagome picked up the sodas—which hadn't gone flying, but had merely rolled out of her hands, meaning they wouldn't explode, much to her relief, and would save her another trip downstairs to the fridge. Kyo was looking at his hands in curiosity.

"Uh . . . What are you—?"

"Nothing," Kyo interrupted, quickly looking up at her.

"Okay then," she muttered in reply before turning and continuing to Tohru's room. "Sorry again," she called over her shoulder, her cheeks still slightly pink.

She had barely closed the door before there was a _poof!_ and Kyo suddenly found himself much shorter and on all fours. He blinked before looking at himself. He had transformed . . . Of _course_ he had transformed. Kagome was a girl and had been _sitting _on him. But then . . . Kyo shook his head in wonderment as he pulled hic clothes towards him.

Why hadn't he transformed right away?

_**-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-**_

Kagome, though she really didn't want to admit it, was bored senseless. Her mind begged to do something else. Conjugating hadn't been what she had wanted to do all night.

'_You hypocrite. You very willingly said you would work on this,'_ a voice mentally chided her.

'_I didn't know it was going to be this hard, though!'_ she complained grumpily.

"Kagome-chan?" Tohru murmured, interrupting her thoughts. "Um . . . Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine!" the other assured immediately, purely from impulse. It had become an automatic reply whenever anyone asked anything like that.

"Are you sure? You look a little . . . Well, out of it." Tohru paused when Kagome didn't answer before suddenly jumping up, horrified. "Oh, my gosh! Dinner!" And with that, she dashed out of the room. Kagome blinked before allowing her shoulders to relax in a slump. It was quite tiresome to have to hold the same pose for long lengths of time, especially when all she wanted to do was sit back and sleep or something . . .

Kagome must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, Tohru was crying, "Kagome-chan! Dinner's ready!" and the said miko was jerking out of a small period of nothingness.

She jumped to her feet, a little embarrassed and ashamed she hadn't asked Tohru if she could help set dinner since she _was_ as guest. Somehow, she felt she had to earn her food.

Kagome blinked and shook her head as she traveled through the hall to the staircase. The feeling had to be from her adventures in the Feudal Era. Inuyasha was always telling her that he only kept her around so she could detect the jewel shards. And while Kagome could sense that this was merely a cover-up for the fact that he had become a total softie, the feeling that she somehow needed to 'earn her keep' remained.

And then, quite suddenly, Kagome froze, halfway through to the dining area door.

Tohru, who was bustling around the table as she put down cups of tea for the Sohmas—there were three Kagome subconsciously noted—paused in her work as she gave Kagome a curious stare. "Kagome-chan, is there something wrong?"

There was something wrong. In fact, there was a _huge_ problem that currently flooded her mind. '_I forgot to apologize to Inuyasha . . ._' In fact, she had momentarily forgot about Inuyasha, the feudal Era, Shippo, Sango, Miroku, the Jewel shards—All thoughts stopped abruptly as Kagome realized she had _forgotten_ the Jewel shards. While the realization itself wasn't bad, it meant that if she had forgotten the shards, and she hadn't come into contact with them for a while, meaning they hadn't been in her hands for an amount of time. _That_ was bad. Automatically, her hand flew up to her chest, where she had put the Jewel originally, suspended from a chain.

Her hand made contact with her flesh.

Immediately her eyes widened in horror. Tohru noticed this, as did the Sohmas, and they all openly gawked at her. "Um," Tohru finally stuttered, trying to break the silence. "Eh? Is there something wrong with Kagome-chan?"

Kagome didn't trust her voice momentarily, afraid it would crack or something, so she mutely nodded, mouth forming a small 'o' in shock.

Tohru immediately worried. "What's wrong Kagome-chan?" She looked panicked as she dropped the tea pot she had been carrying on the table—the liquid inside spilling—and ran over to the miko. "Are you hurt? I thought you looked a little out of it earlier. What's wrong? Can I help?"

Kagome blinked and gave a small sigh. "I—I lost it . . ." she finally murmured after a pause.

Tohru, in reply, blinked in confusion. "Lost what?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"The—" Kagome stopped herself as she realized that she could _not_ tell Tohru about the

Shikon no Tama, obviously. Instead, she danced around the problem by replying, "My necklace."

Tohru cocked her head. "And this necklace means a lot to you, Kagome-chan?"

The miko mutely nodded again.

Tohru beamed. "Then I'll help you find it!" she chirped happily.

"I don't think you understand—" Kagome started.

"Now, where did you have it last?" Tohru mused, not hearing her. "Well, since you don't know where it is, I suppose you're not sure . . ." Tohru's face became her 'serious' face—scrunched eyebrows, set eyes, clenched hand, and determined mind.

Deciding not to break the girl's 'happiness,' Kagome weakly replied, "I suppose it's possible that I dropped it in your room . . ."

Tohru gasped. "Yes!" she exclaimed happily. "I'll go check for you. Meanwhile, please feel free to sit down and eat. I don't want to keep you guys waiting."

Kagome gave the smallest of nods as the optimistic girl rushed up the stairs. She then slowly turned around, knowing full well it was going to be awkward as hell when she did so since she would most likely make eye contact with one of the Sohmas, but also knowing it would be even worse to just stand there until Tohru returned. She slowly let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding when she saw that not one of the three Sohmas were looking at her, but instead off doing their own thing. Yuki held his chin in his palm as he stared off into space, Kyo was glaring at the wall across from him, and the other, older Sohma was leaning back on his hands, staring at nothing while humming something softly and bobbing his head slightly to its beat, a dazed grin whispering across is lips.

Kagome stood for a few seconds longer as she looked around curiously. She couldn't help but notice there was a window on one side and peeked through it, idly wondering just how late it had gotten. An early evening darkness was spreading across the sky, making it harder to see the trees that surrounded the house. Through the dim light she could almost see the path she had taken to get—

A sudden flash caused her to blink as she jerked slightly. She blinked again twice before cocking her head in puzzlement. She could have sworn she had seen something zip across the window . . . She could also have sworn it wasn't an animal, either . . .

"Kagome-chan," a voice suddenly interrupted her. The miko blinked out of her thoughts before turning to Tohru. "I'm sorry." The other girl's tone was laced with misery. "I couldn't find anything that fit your description. I looked all through my bed and under it and all over the floor and everything, but . . ." she let off and her eyes flicked to the ground. "Sorry," she repeated.

Kagome gave a small smile. "Aw, don't worry about it, Tohru," she replied easily. "It's not like it was . . ._ that_ important to me." The lie came easily.

A small spark of hope ignited in the other girl's eye. "Really?" she murmured.

Kagome nodded in affirmation. "Yeah, I suppose I could . . ." '_Go to the Feudal Age, get Midoriko to forge another, and then shatter it again?_' ". . . Just _buy_ another one."

Tohru looked at her skeptically. "It probably cost a lot . . ." she murmured. "Sorry I couldn't find it—"

The miko waved her off as she made her way over to the table. "I said don't worry about it. If it had been I that went up there to look, only to also find nothing, the situation wouldn't be any different."

"But I'm sorry you lost it to begin with. I shouldn't have—"

"Oh, wow!" Kagome exclaimed, cutting her off as she took a seat. "This looks great, Tohru!"

And suddenly, the Sohma that Kagome didn't know the name of nodded in agreement. "Doesn't it? Tohru-kun always makes us the best meals. I hope you're ready for a life-changing dinner."

A playful glint danced in the miko's eyes. "I'm not so sure," she replied. "My mother's cooking is unbeatable."

"Nothing can beat Tohru's dinners," he replied smoothly, a lazy grin forming on his face.

Kagome smiled, humored. "I suppose I'll find out if it's as good as you say I a minute, won't I, Mr . . .?" she let off, hoping he would fill her in on his name.

Tohru suddenly gasped as she sat down only to jump up as the epiphany dawned on her. "I haven't introduced the two of you yet, have I? Oh, how rude. Kagome-chan, this is Shigure-san; Shigure-san, Kagome-chan."

Kagome smiled a greeting and murmured, "It's a pleasure," to him.

Shigure, in reply, gave a lazy grin and answered, "Ah, no, Kagome-kun, this pleasure is definitely _mine_."

The statement resulted in two fists to his head. Both Kyo and Yuki glowered down at him. "Why must you always act so lascivious?" Yuki demanded, a little disgusted at his elder.

"Why am I related to you?" Kyo demanded in turn, nearly twitching at barely suppressed frustration.

"You were acting like a good _dog_ for a while there, I was hoping that maybe you'd lost your perversion . . ." Yuki murmured as he took his seat again as did Kyo.

Kagome merely blinked at the exchange. "Uh . . ." she mumbled incoherently, a little perplexed at the antics of the Sohmas.

Deciding to move the topic along before anything worse happened, Yuki turned to Tohru, smiled, and told her, "Honda-san, dinner is even better than usual."

Tohru's cheeks turned a delicate shade of pink as she beamed cutely at the compliment. "Yuki-kun is too nice," she dismissed quite modestly.

Kagome made an 'ah!' sound as she realized she had not yet tried Tohru's cooking, She placed a small bite in her mouth and chewed delicately, wanting a thorough knowledge of what it tasted like. She made a 'hmmm' noise as she chewed. Once she swallowed, she beamed. "Wow! It is good! I'm jealous, Tohru! If I cooked half this good, I would _never_ hear complaints from—" she abruptly cut herself off and when Tohru gave her a curious look, encouraging her to continue, the miko shoved another bite of the scrumptious meal into her mouth.

The other girl blinked in curiousness, not planning to let the topic go by unfinished. But as soon as Kagome had swallowed again, she blurted out, "So I'm thinking that if we continue at the pace we have set, we'll be able to finish translating that book with plenty of time to go through it again for mistakes. We might even finish early and hand it in for a little bit of extra credit."

Tohru's expression blossomed at the words 'extra credit.' "Really? You think so?" she asked hopefully.

Kagome nodded as she took another bite. "Mm-hmm."

Tohru's laughing face suddenly became somber and serious again. Kagome decided she didn't like the look. It didn't fit the young girl. She was too care-free and optimistic to look so troubled. "Something wrong?" the miko murmured in concern.

"Ah—no. It's just—I—that I . . ." Tohru drifted off as she looked away. "I really am sorry that you lost your necklace."

Kagome blinked in genuine amazement. "You're _still_ thinking about that?" Kagome mused aloud. "I promise that it"—'_will_'—"won't hurt anything too much, okay? I'm sure that I probably left it at home . . . somewhere." '_Or maybe a demon or something stole it while I was distracted._' She mentally winced at the thought before shooting it down. She did _not_ want pessimistic thoughts at this point.

Tohru looked at the miko with troubled eyes. "I still feel really awful that you—"

"Um . . ." a voice suddenly interrupted. Both Tohru and Kagome turned to face Kyo, who had been the one to stutter.

"Is something the matter, Kyo-kun?" Tohru inquired, looking worried.

"No, but . . . um . . . Kagome, that necklace you lost . . .?"

Kagome nodded in encouragement. "Yes?"

"Well . . . After you—after we—when I—and you . . ." After stuttering for a while, Kyo finally gave a disgusted noise at himself, stopped trying to verbally say it, and instead stood to fish through his left pocket. After several seconds of shuffling, Kyo produced a chain with a small pendant suspended from it.

'_Hold the phone . . ._' Kagome told herself, her eyes narrowing to make out the pendant. '_That's—_' The miko gasped sharply, jumping to her feet. "O—Oh! You found it! Thank you ever-so-much!" She scurried over to the orange-haired teen and accepted the Jewel from him. "Where did you find it?" she asked breathlessly, happy at finding it again. She put the chain around her neck, flipped her hair, and allowed the jewel to slip behind her shirt, hiding it from view.

"Uh . . . after our little accident, I found it mixed in with my clothes—_On the floor_! I found it on the floor!" he hastily amended in an almost panicked manner.

Kagome cocked her head at him curiously. "Uh, okay. Well, thanks. I owe you a lot. This thing means too much to lose it like that . . ."

Tohru gave her a glare—which wasn't even technically a glare, considering it was Tohru. "I thought Kagome-chan said that the necklace wasn't that important."

"Eh, well, I mean . . . that is . . . um . . . The necklace itself is important to me," she started hesitantly, picking her words very carefully, "because it was given to me by someone very important. I'm sure that I could easily go out and buy another"—'_Like bloody hell I could just walk out and buy another!'_—"but it's merely the fact that I received this as a gist that makes it important."

There was a small pause as it dawned on Tohru. "Ah, I see. That_ still_ makes it important, though, Kagome-chan, and you should've said so."

Kagome gave a nervous smile. "I'm sure that it would've been—"

And then, suddenly, Kagome's eyes swam in darkness. She found herself incredibly light-headed and the miko subconsciously noted that she was falling. She was expecting to hit the ground with a painful impact and was surprised when she landed softly on something comfortable. Several minutes went by and fuzzy voices went in one ear and out the other.

"_Kuuugggooo-uhh-mmeee, uuuuh yuuh-oo allr-uuh-iitt?"_

"_Duuyiid shuheh huuh-yert heeersu-yeeelf?"_

"_Muu-yake shuuuh-hooore shu-yeees nuu-yuuut bluuu-yeeding."_

"_Puuu-yuuut yuuh-uuur duuuh-yu-haam cluuu-hooothes buuuy-haaack ooo-yoon."_

Her head was swimming with voices that were bouncing off each other, muffling each other and leaving her confused as to what anyone may have been saying.

"_Stupid wench."_

Kagome gave a small smile. She knew that voice anywhere. " 'M sorry, In'yasha . . . I don't mean 'be stupid . . ." she mumbled.

She felt something warm against her chest as slowly the darkness in her head and eyes faded away and she blinked groggily, her gaze returning. Four faces looked down at her with concern.

She blinked again and groaned.

"Oh, good. She's alive," Shigure noted.

Kyo shot him a withering look. "No shit?" he retorted sarcastically.

Shigure nodded. "No shit," he assured.

Kyo's glower darkened. "Just shut up, baka-inu."

"Inu . . .?" Kagome echoed, still not all up there in the head. "Where's Inu . . . yasha?" she asked curiously. This earned her baffled stares. She blinked and abruptly the fogginess in her mind dissipated, leaving nothing but common sense and realization. She bolted up into a sitting position, looking around wildly. "Wuh—what happened?" she finally inquired no one in particular.

"You collapsed," Kyo informed her easily.

The miko's eyes flicked in his direction before she abruptly looked away, a slight blush on her cheeks. "Um . . ." she squeaked. "Why exactly don't you have a shirt on?"

Kyo paused for a second before looking down at himself. He softly swore. "I know I forgot something," he muttered, looking around for the missing article of clothing. Finding it under the table, he shoved it on unceremoniously. "There," he assured everyone. "Now I'm dressed."

Kagome peeked at him from the corner of her eye and upon seeing he was telling the truth, gave a small sigh of relief. "Oh, good . . . Now, do you mind explaining why you were missing your shirt to begin with?"

"Oh, um, Kyo-kun caught you when you fell," Tohru supplied as though it explained the world.

Kagome nodded. "Okay, thanks, Kyo. I really appreciate it. You probably spared me of a concussion or something. _But_ that doesn't explain why you're suddenly missing a shirt."

"Ah! Uh . . . the impact of you falling against Kyo-kun made his shirt fly off!"

Kagome gave the other girl an incredulous stare. "I don't think that's quite possible—"

"It's true!" Shigure piped in, giving Kyo a mischievous grin. "Upon feeling your luscious skin upon his own, Kyo's body reacted and his clothes grew a mind of their own, starting to remove themselves so he wouldn't be hindered when he—"

Yuki intervened before Shigure could continue—but not before giving him a good whack on the back of the head. "Ah . . . yes," he agreed very reluctantly. "After you fell, you pushed against him, showing his shirt off—"

"And sending it flying!" Tohru finished, beaming brightly—and nervously—at the excuse.

Kagome blinked. "Oh . . . okay . . ." she reluctantly agreed. "Oh!" she exclaimed out of no where, jumping to her feet, grabbing onto Kyo for support as she righted herself. Somehow she missed the horrified look the others were giving her as she continued, "We should finish eating! Tohru, I was completely rude to—" But she never finished her sentence because quite suddenly there was no Kyo under her hands to help her stay steady. There was a _poof!_ and then she was stumbling to gain her balance, grabbing onto the material of Kyo's shirt. What shocked her more than anything was that there was no Kyo attached to it as her arm flung wildly around stopping in front of her as she finally managed to stay on her feet.

There was a long pause as everyone stared at Kagome, who in turn was staring at the shirt in her hand.

". . ."

"Alright," the miko finally uttered. "Now I know that . . . flying shirts seem pretty common in this house, but . . ." she drifted off and waved the shirt slightly. "Where the hell did Kyo go?"

_**-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-**_

_**Votes for Kagome:**_

_**Kyo: 118**_

_**Inuyasha: 110**_

_**Haru: 4 (Sorry, but this won't be, no matter what.)**_

_**Akito: 1 (Um, not gonna happen, but I'll put it up, anyway)**_

_**Ayame: 18 ( . . .Ooooookay xD)**_

_**Yuki: 25 (I'll admit that after a while I was thinking of having Kaggy with 'im and Tohru with Kyo (since they look so cute together), but… I now have a plot that involves the pairing!)**_

**W00t:) I bought volume 18… Loved it, as usual. (Akito's real gender was finally released—yes, I know Akito is female)! ****In the end, Inuyasha and Kyo were pretty close, eh? Almost tied… Which will it be? xD I ain't sayin'! Actually… If you want to know **_**that**_** bad tell me through a review and I'll **_**consider**_** letting you in on it if enough of you care. D**

**And gomenasai it took so long for this to be released… I'm actually going to update every story that I am currently working on sometime before Sunday because if you took notice, it's my two year anniversary (and a review for this story was loooong due) today:) Hey! How about you all review as a present? –hopefully- Maybe I'll reach 100 reviews with this chapter…?**


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